The London Experience
by EmberFalcon
Summary: Sequel to Restless Emotions. Kagome's going to London! Which wouldn't be a problem, except a certain someone refuses to be left behind...
1. Chapter 1

Here's the sequel to Restless Emotions, everyone! Oh, and a side note to Black Juju: I will agree that her breaking the news to go to London was very subtle and sudden, but the reason is explained in this chapter. (I'm just making sure you guys know this sort of thing!) Hope you guys enjoy!

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"So, you never did tell me where "London" is." Inuyasha said slipping his hands into the folds of his fire rate haori sleeves. Kagome paused for a moment, wondering how she was going to put this into context for someone who came from an era that still hadn't discovered any lands beyond China.

"Well…it's past the continent-"

"WHAT? Why are you telling me this now?" Kagome had to admit, this was indeed short notice, but she had no power over the situation. Her three pen pals in London had pooled their funds together and sent her a plane ticket to come and meet them only yesterday as an early birthday present, so it was, of course, a major shock to find her mom handing her a plane ticket to London that had come in the mail for her. As much as it would make her feel guilty for leaving her Inuyasha for so long, it was an opportunity that she just couldn't pass up.

"Why didn't you even tell me before?" Inuyasha mumbled as his ears pressed back against his skull. This was just plain unfair that Kagome had to leave! They've only been together for a week now, and she was leaving again!

"I had no control over this, Inuyasha; my pen pals all put their money together to buy me a plane ticket to come to London and see them. I used to go to school with these three friends until they moved- their all sisters." Kagome explained calmly as she walked closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"And besides, I'm not leaving _today_, but I'll be gone by noon tomorrow, so I wanted to say goodbye to you now, in case I don't get the chance to before I leave." He folded her tightly in his arms to the point where she could feel his heart beating in his ribcage. She rested her chin on his chest as she stared at him with her big shimmering brown eyes.

"I'm really gonna miss you (_again_), you know." Rather than fight with Kagome, Inuyasha found that he could sometimes guilt her into not leaving to go back to her time, and it actually proved to produce some excellent results, ones that he would have found a dream with his old tactics. Usually, if he put on his best puppy dog face, she'd feel bad enough to stay a few more days with him (and sometimes, he'd even get an ear rub as a bonus!) before finally taking leave. Not only did she stay longer here when he made her guilty, but she even came back _earlier_ than originally planned, making him one _very_ happy puppy.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to work this time.

"I'm really sorry, Inuyasha. I have to do this. It would be mean to send the ticket back when they worked so hard to come up with the money for it. And I'll miss you, too." She reached up on her tip toes and rubbed her nose against his cheek. Even though it was nice to be able to cuddle with her, he still wasn't comfortable with the idea of her being out of his reach. It was one thing for her to just say she was going home; he could just jump down the well if he wanted to see her, but she was going further than that, further than the continent, way too far away from him in his opinion. Then again, it was unfair of him to keep her from her own life, it was selfish, he knew, but he loved her and wanted her to be near him whenever it was possible.

Still, doing the puppy dog face one more time couldn't hurt.

"Well…will you come back soon?" He mumbled, returning her earlier gesture with his nose gently brushing her cheek. She giggled from the feather-light touch he gave her, but sobered when she remembered that her pen pals had gotten her a ticket back to Japan that was only valid three weeks from tomorrow.

"Inuyasha…I'll be gone for almost a month, so-"

"Almost a month?" He whimpered as his ears drooped, causing a sharp stab of guilt run through Kagome's heart. As if to offer him some comfort, she reached up and rubbed his left ear (the ear he liked getting rubbed the most) tenderly. Even getting his ear rubbed didn't help lighten his gloomy mood.

"Just promise me two things while I'm gone, okay?"

"Okay, I guess."

"First," Kagome raised her pointer finger up, counting off the first promise Inuyasha had to make.

"Promise me you won't pick on Shippo while I'm gone."

"I promise."

"And two," She added a second finger to her first lifted one.

"Promise me you won't miss me too much, okay?" She knew he would promise, then just miss her three times as much because he'd promised he wouldn't, but if he at least kept his first promise, she'd make this up to him (no perverted thoughts, thank you very much!). He nodded his head reluctantly in response to her request.

"Okay…I promise." She smiled warmly at him, reaching up and kissing him softly on the cheek before he turned his head to catch her lips with his. She willingly responded, matching his love and passion in the kiss before slowly, almost reluctantly pulling away.

"I have to go now, but I'll make sure the first person I see when I get back to the Feudal Era is you." She whispered, detaching from her beloved hanyou and sitting on the rim of the well, flipping her legs over the side. Just as she was about to let herself fall in, she felt a warm arm slip around her waist and someone's breath by her ear.

"I'll be right here waiting for you. I love you."

"I love you, too."

And just like that, she left.

Inuyasha sighed heavily, slumping in front of the well as he rested his arms on the well's lip, right next to where Kagome had sat only moments ago. He was already missing her terribly, and it hadn't even been a day (or even a minute) since her departure. A sudden glint in the grass caught his attention, so he turned to look at what the source of the sparkle was. Kagome's favorite golden oval locket with a tiny star shaped adamant (diamond) on it was lying in the grass; the chain had finally broke, and much have fallen off her neck when they were hugging. He untangled the chain from the individual blades of grass and inspected it a moment before jumping down the well to return it to her.

Clambering out of the well, he eagerly emerged from the shrine and started heading for the Higurashi residence. Turning left to face the sacred tree, he hopped up to its branch that jutted out to Kagome's window. Cat walking across the branch with the utmost grace, Inuyasha clicked Kagome's window open and stepped inside cautiously. He could tell that she was downstairs; her scent lingered toward the door, and seemed to continue down the steps into the living room. He didn't want to disturb her, so he simply set her locket on the desk across from her bed, when something on her mattress caught his eye. A large, black bag about half full with clothes and other things she had brought to his time every once in a while (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, deodorant, razor, etc.) resting on top. It looked like she had just finished packing, and had left it there for later storage in her mom's "car."

Just as he was about to turn and leave, the door surprisingly clicked open, and Ms. Higurashi walked in, catching Inuyasha off guard. He jumped a little at her sudden entrance, but bowed his head a little as a hello. She smiled in response, a little surprised herself when she saw Inuyasha, but was happy that he came; she had a little surprise for both him and her daughter, but Kagome's blissfully unaware of it (so is Inuyasha, but that's going to change pretty quick.)

"Oh, Inuyasha, I didn't expect you, what a pleasant surprise!"

"Err, I just came to drop off Kagome's locket…it must have broke. I'll just be going-"

"Wait, there's something that I want to ask you! Would you do me a favor?" The hanyou almost took a step back in surprise. He didn't think Kagome's mom would ask something of him, but he didn't mind; he almost considered Kagome's mom his own (though no one could ever replace his real mother, he amended)

"Uh, sure, what do you need?" Ms. Higurashi smirked slyly. Ohh, how this was going to be a _very_ interesting adventure for the both of them!

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Ta-da! Hope you guys like it so far! I'll update ASAP, till then, read and click the little button to review!


	2. Big Ben is really big

Yay! I'm updating! Wahoo! Okay, sugar level has dropped back to normal, so I'll just continue with the story, now.

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_"3:30 flight from Tokyo to London will be taking off shortly. Please make sure you have received all luggages from inspection and customs. Be sure to fasten your seatbelt before the plane takes off. Thank you for choosing Yamaguchi airlines as your choice of transportation. Have a nice flight!"_

Kagome looked up from her window to the intercom as the robotic sounding, monotone female voice of the flight attendant made that announcement, only to return her gaze back to the people outside the plane when the attendant began to describe (in explicit detail) how to put on the seatbelt as if everyone on the flight was a bunch of retards (and right about now, Kagome was beginning to wonder is the attendant was a retard herself), but said nothing as the plane's crew began prepping for take off. A part of Kagome was excited that she would be able to see her friends again, having not seen them in almost three years, but most of her was already missing everyone back home…mostly Inuyasha. She had figured that she's be glad not to have to watch over Sota when she was home, or have to fight demons, or have to put up with Hojo's constant whining behind her back that she now had a boyfriend and how it just wasn't fair (same for Koga…god it was getting old), and she wasn't missing those things at all. What she was really missing was talking with Sango about everything (they were practically sisters), joking around with Miroku (they might as well be brother and sister), playing with Shippo, and…and she missed talking about everything with Inuyasha, joking around with him, having fun with him, letting him hold her at night, the way he would wrap them both in his haori just before they fell asleep, the way he would play with her hair for absolutely no particular reason, his adorable ears that he let her pet, his kiss, his touch- basically, he was what she missed the most.

She came very close to ditching the house today early and surprising Inuyasha by staying, even came so close as to walk to the shrine and run her hand over the sliding wooden door, but knew that it would be cruel to do that when her friends had worked so hard, and she wanted to see them. So, she remembered how she had painfully let her hand slide down the shrine's door and fall limply to her side as she walked away. But she couldn't help but notice that, as she said goodbye to her family, that her mother had this amused twinkle in her eye, almost like she knew something that Kagome didn't. Oh well, in Kagome's opinion, there was no point in trying to figure it out now.

A sudden urge to want to see Inuyasha's face again swelled up inside her, not for the first time today. So she reached her hand up to the locket she wore around her neck, only to grasp air. She felt her eyes grow wide in panic. She wore it all the time! She'd never taken it off since she got it! The chain must have finally broke somewhere without her noticing!

_"3:30 flight to London is now taking off, so if you have not done so already, please fasten your seatbelts. Thank you."_

"Oh no…" She felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. That locket was treasured to her mainly because it had been her mother's, a present to her from Kagome's father when they were still dating. When her mother gave it to her, it appeared at least twice as old as it was; there was so much dust and a thin layer of rust on the outside, and the diamond star in the middle of the front just didn't sparkle the way such a pretty stone should. So, Kagome cleaned it with some rubbing alcohol as best she could, and left the rest of the job to hydrogen peroxide, which she soaked the locket in for about a week before it looked better than new. As soon as she wiped the locket free of the foam left over, she put it around her neck and vowed to never take it off. Now she had no idea where it was, and the thought only made her more miserable as she sank in her chair, watching the city of Tokyo drift away. Before she even realized it, she slipped into a miserably deep sleep…

_"Flight 225 has just arrived at London Airport, and will be landing shortly. Please gather all of your personal belongings and prepare to exit the plane. Thank you for flying Yamaguchi Airlines."_

"Ugh…" Kagome opened her eyes groggily about four hours later (the plane had to stop a few times, but Kagome was oblivious to that information), rubbing at her eyes gently to wake them up a little bit more. She looked sleepily out the window, and the first sight that welcomed her was Big Ben, the giant clock tower that resided in London, the one her friends had sent her pictures of. The photos, however, didn't quite capture the breathtaking beauty of the structure, not even close to it! Her eyes scanned the town below her, her hands and face pressed to the glass like a little kid looking into a pet store at all the cute puppies. She peeled her face off of the glass (literally) so that she could get up and open the luggage compartment above her where her bag was stored for her. She spotted her black duffle bag in between a brown suitcase and a neon yellow gym bag, so she reached for it, sliding it out with ease. However, upon lifting it, she nearly fell over at how heavy it was.

"I didn't think I packed _this_ much…that's odd…" She shrugged it off and began making her way down the aisle to the plane's stairs. Upon descending them, her face blossomed into a huge smile as she spotted her three friends standing by a car, all waving eagerly to their separated best friend. She waved back with equal enthusiasm and rushed over to be welcomed into a group hug by her three best friends.

"Kags, we missed you so much!" Mona replied as she opened the trunk to her car and let Kagome toss her bag into it.

"We were all so excited that you could come!" Clara squealed as they all piled in the car and sped off to the hotel.

"It took us almost two months, even with all of us working at the same time, to get the money for your ticket, so you better have fun and kid around like you used to!" Tara teased as she shoved Kagome's shoulder a little playfully. She laughed lightly, returning the gesture in the same manner. The entire way to the hotel consisted of nothing but joking around and looking at all the amazing buildings and shops while Mona, Tara, and Clara gave her a guided tour from their car to Kagome. An hour later, Mona pulled the car into the parking lot of a huge rectangular navy blue building that Kagome could only assume was the hotel. Thankfully, they had a currency exchange machine (a/n: when you put some money into the currency exchange machine and select a country, it'll give you that country's currency equal to the amount that you put into the machine) so that Kagome could pay for her things while she was here. So, to be safe, she got 1,000 pounds (1 pound is equal to 1 US dollar, or that's what it said when I looked it up) in hopes that it would last her the three weeks she was here. If not, she had plenty more yen to convert into pounds.

"Kagome, we all couldn't stay in the same room (_only up to three people per room, according to the guy at the counter)_ so we're all getting separate rooms, so it'll be fair." Clara turned to her friend from Japan after talking to the guy at the counter inside the lobby to get a room. (This seriously is a rule in one of the hotels over there, just one that I'm positive of, though)

"That's fine with me, but how much do the rooms cost?"

"About fifty pounds a night." Tara piped up behind Clara. Kagome nodded in agreement, and not long after the guy behind the desk handed them each a key card for their separate rooms. At this point, it was almost 9:30 and Kagome was exhausted, so everyone agreed that their tour of London would begin whenever they were all fully awake tomorrow. So after finding the four doors (all in a square of each other) to their rooms, they bade each other goodnight and went off in their rooms.

As Kagome walked in with her bag of luggage, she practically fell over at the sight before her. Beautiful rose red paint covered the walls, and the soft, beige carpet welcomed her now bare feet. To her immediate left, against the wall, was a full sized bed with a black comforter and white sheets to accent it, with a black body pillow and a white regular pillow on top. Beside the bed was a full length mirror and a dresser with six drawers for her clothes, each framed in maple wood. Ahead of her was a window leading out to a balcony with an excellent view of Big Ben's huge north facing clock reminding her how late it was. To the right of the window door was a black cushy love seat, and across from that was a maple wooded desk and chair.

She walked to the bed in a daze and set her bag on the bed before wandering aimlessly to the balcony, not opening the door but still taking in the view a moment before going back to her bag and starting to take out her clothes. However, upon unzipping her bag, she was greeted with the sight of a man's clothing!

"Don't tell me I grabbed the wrong bag! This isn't good…"

"Oh don't worry; you grabbed the right bag." She suddenly felt familiar hands rest on her hips, and before she knew what was going on, she was facing…

"Inuyasha!" She flung her arms around his neck as her face broke into an ecstatic smile. The force of the impact caused the hanyou to stumble backwards a few steps, but the grin never quite left his face.

"Geez, I didn't think you would miss me _this_ much!" He said teasingly as he wrapped his arms around her in return. She was about to bury her head into his chest, but noticed he was no longer wearing his fire rat haori…or hakama pants. Rather, he was wearing a sky blue casual button up long sleeved shirt with a black eagle on his left side of the chest, and black acid washed jeans, and, upon further inspection, was wearing dark brown gym shoes with white laces.

"Wow…Inuyasha…you look…_hot!_" She flushed into his shirt, but he only chuckled at her outburst before pulling away from her slightly.

"It's not what I'm used to, but it's pretty comfortable!" He confessed, looking down at his shirt and jeans a moment.

"But I don't understand…what are you doing here? Not that I mind you being here, or anything." Kagome asked, still a little confused as to why Inuyasha was standing in front of her when he was supposed to be back in Japan (not that she was complaining). He shrugged in response before fully explaining the situation to her.

" I wasn't planning on coming here, to be honest; it was actually your mom that had asked me to go with you, so she bought some clothes for me to wear and took me to that place with all the really loud flying things. I'm kinda surprised no one noticed me on top of that "car" thing, though." Kagome couldn't help but giggle at how he was rambling like a little kid taking his first plane ride. He was so cute when he did stuff like that! She reached up and fondled his right ear playfully.

"So, those are your clothes in my bag?" He nodded, nuzzling his head under her hand a little more.

"Your clothes are still in there, they're just under those. I didn't take anything out. Oh, wait- I almost forgot something…" He regretfully pulled his head away from her touch and began to dig around his pocket until he pulled his closed fist out.

"You left something in my era." He wrapped his arms around her neck for a moment, and Kagome heard something snap shut behind her hair. He pulled away and inspected her. She was confused at first, but then she felt something cool on her neck, so she looked down to see…her locket on a new chain!

"It must have fallen off when you were saying goodbye, so that's when I came to your era to return it to you, and I met you mom instead. That's when she asked me to go with you." If Kagome's face had been lit up anymore, she could have powered the city of Tokyo with her smile as she kissed him in absolute happiness. And as he wrapped his arms around her and responded, she couldn't help but wonder if he was wearing and type of underwear. Sure it was a random thought, but she was curious!

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Ta-da! I tried not to make it like some cartoon cliché and have him stuff himself inside her bag or anything (that was the original idea, but I decided against it) so I figured it would be more…Inuyasha-ish if it happened this way. Stick around for the next chappie! Now click the little button below and tell me your thoughts, 'cause I can't read minds (I'm not that special)


	3. A little too much coffee, Kagome

Konnichiwa everyone, and I can't help but mention how completely awesome it is to be back! I'll cut this short and get right to what everyone really cares about: the update! So, enjoy this newest chapter!

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Kagome yawned sleepily as she lifted her head from the fluffy white pillow it had been resting on just before she chanced a groggy peek at the little digital clock she had brought with her and had set up on her dresser. Its blood red digital numbers currently informed her that it was only a minute until midnight, so she couldn't help but wonder why she had woken up so early, even though she was perfectly capable of going right back to sleep. Then she saw the figure on the love seat across the room from her shift awkwardly, and remembered why; not long after Inuyasha had made his presence known, she had insisted that they both get some rest tonight so they would be more awake tomorrow. Inuyasha had reluctantly agreed after Kagome threatened not to pet his ears ever again, but insisted that he sleep on the love seat. Normally, it wouldn't have bothered her much, but that couch was way too small for his long, lean body to be scrunched up on, no matter if he was a half demon or not; it had to be uncomfortable to at least some extent even to him.

"Inuyasha, I know you're awake." She whispered into the darkness, watching for the figure across the room to respond. The shape on the love seat shifted and squirmed a little before she heard him answer her quietly,

"Yeah, of course I'm awake, what of it?"

"Aren't you a little uncomfortable? Why don't you-"

"I already told you, I'm not sleeping in the same bed with you." His sharp voice cut through the silence of the night, also cutting her sentence short. She winced at the rough edge in his voice, setting her gaze on the floor beside the bed. She knew that he wasn't trying to sound crude or mean, but she still worried about him (and she didn't mind cuddling with the hanyou, either). After a few moments of silence he sighed and add in a much softer tone,

"It's just…my mother always told me that the only time that I should ever share a bed with a woman is when I am married to her."

"I think she was referring to 'doing it,' Inuyasha. I'm only talking about sleeping."

"Don't tempt me."

"Please sleep next to me? It'll make me feel less bad about you sleeping on the uncomfortable couch…please?" She whispered in a begging voice that always seemed to make Inuyasha's resolve suddenly turn into a puddle of goo on the floor. Inuyasha sighed again, tossing the options around his head. He honestly had wanted to cuddle up to Kagome right from the start, and he knew that his mother had only referred to being intimate when she told him that all those years ago, but the thought would be too tempting if he were given the opportunity…he just didn't trust himself sometimes around Kagome. Then again, if she trusted him enough to invite him, then he should have just as much faith in himself right from the start. That thought in mind, he swung his legs over the edge of the tiny couch and stood with newfound confidence, quietly making his way over to the bed. He took a seat beside Kagome, who had turned her back to him thinking he was still over on the love seat being his usual arrogant self.

How very, VERY wrong she was.

He carefully peeled the corner of the blankets away from the mattress, trying not to draw attention to himself, and before Kagome could register that her shoulders suddenly lacked the blankets, the hanyou eagerly crawled under the blankets and snuggled up against the warmth of her back. She gasped in surprise as she turned to face him, a dark flush finding its way onto her cheeks. He grinned at her sudden shyness and wrapped an arm around her waist possessively and nuzzled his face into her hair, his eyelids drooping to cover all but a sliver of his amber hawk-like eyes. She smiled and cuddled up to his chest a little more.

"Now do you see that it's not so bad, Inuyasha?"

"Mmm-hmm…" He nodded against the side of her head as he responded lazily before fully shutting his eyes and sighing contentedly into her hair. Her scent enveloped his entire being in a gentle embrace, though she had wrapped an arm around him as well, the way her scent sealed him in a cocoon of love he had only experienced with his mother before he ever met Kagome. It made him feel even more loved than it did back then because he knew without a doubt that Kagome didn't love him because he had been born from her womb, but because she saw something in him others would have failed to miss no matter how hard they looked at him or how much time they spent with them. What she saw inside his soul was still a mystery to him, but it still made him feel loved even more all the same.

"Goodnight, Inuyasha." He faintly heard her mumble in a tired voice before snuggling up into the folds of his blue shirt and falling asleep. He licked his lips before pressing them to her scalp and wishing her a goodnight as well as he followed her into their dreams.

(Next morning…)

"Inuyasha, time to wake up, we have to meet my friends at the downstairs lobby in an hour." Kagome whispered into the slumbering hanyou's fuzzy white dog ear. He moaned softly but didn't seem to be awake. In all honesty, he had been awake for the past hour and a half, even though he appeared asleep; he had been resting his eyes for the most part, and occasionally playing with Kagome's hair to pass the time (it was one of his favorite things to do). He knew perfectly well what was going on around him, but it was nice to cuddle with Kagome, so he remained dormant and unresponsive to her gentle shaking of his shoulder.

Kagome sighed lightly as she shook her head. She knew that her lazy puppy was awake, but since he was going to play difficult, so can she. She leaned towards his frame, pushing the hanyou's shoulder, which made him lay on his back. The covers slid off of the both of them like water from a shower and spilled onto the floor as she swung her leg over his hip so she sat on his stomach, gently pressing her hands on his chest as she sat upright. He moaned softly again, this time his left ear flicking against the pillowcase though he showed no other signs of alertness. She added more pressure to her hands as she leaned down so that her nose just barely brushed up against his.

"_Inuyasha…_" She mumbled in a low, seductive voice, trying her very hardest not to laugh at his scrunched up face. _'What is she doing? She's not playing fair! This is TORTUUUUUURE!' _Inuyasha's mind screamed as he tried his best to keep a peaceful, indifferent face, his efforts ending up for all but naught when he felt Kagome give him a teasing kiss on his nose. He started sweating profusely like some nerd that was being seduced by a hot chick. Wait…oh no…not that tightening in his jeans…why now? He felt a sudden heat on his cheeks, and he knew it wasn't Kagome's breath. She giggled at his cute little blush as he tried acting asleep, but then decided to play the very amusing game of reverse psychology. She started to bring one of her hands up and tenderly stroke his cheek, letting her fingertips trail along his cheekbone as she rested the side of her head into their intertwined hair. Letting her hand fall dormant beside the opposite side of his head, she started brushing her lips against his earlobe, occasionally nipping at it gently with her two front teeth.

"You know you'll have to get up sooner or later, Inuyasha." She whispered into his ear in between her ministrations to it. She almost failed to suppress a giggle as she saw him sweat even more profusely than before. _'This is torture…this is torture…this is ABSOLUTE torture, and she KNOWS it! But…at least she hasn't-' _Inuyasha's thoughts were cut short as she reached her hand that was beside his face up to his ear, running her fingers along the edge of it, almost as if she were tracing its outline. _KAGOME! You're playing dirty, and you know that tickles me! That's no fair!'_ It took all the will power Inuyasha could muster up not to start laughing from the feather light touch Kagome was treating his ear to.

"Hmm…if you don't want to get up, then fine; I will." She lifted herself back into a sitting position on his belly and was about to get off the bed, but a sudden force knocked her back onto the bed. That same force was pushing her against the mattress and playing with her hair.

"Well, that certainly got you awake."

"Feh, I was just resting, until you sat on me."

"So I turned you on?"

"No, you woke me up."

"But I thought you were just resting."

"Err…" _'Damn it, I hate when she notices these things.'_ Not for the first time since he met her, he was at a loss for words. For lack of a better smartass comeback, he simply gave her a 'keh' in response. She could only roll her eyes at his juvenile behavior before she attempted to get up.

Keyword: "attempted"

"And where are you going?" Inuyasha interrogated as he playfully flattened her against the mattress. She snorted arrogantly and tried her best imitation of the hanyou.

"I'm meeting my friends in the lobby downstairs. You're coming, too."

"Aww…"

"You. Up. Now. Do it." Kagome demanded, narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend. He whimpered but did as he was told. No matter how much Kagome asked him, he refused to change out of his clothes, so she threw on a pair of dark jeans with a rip on the left knee, a black thin sweater and a grey-blue t-shirt with a silver outline of a banner and several green-blue paint blotches drawn on its front, and said 'Vintage' in silver letters on the chest of it. Grabbing her brown Converse shoes with blue outlines and throwing them on her feet, she guided Inuyasha by the hand toward the door, but stopped as she felt him tug her hand backward a bit.

"Won't someone notice? My ears, I mean." In all honesty, Kagome hadn't even thought of that, but shrugged it off nonetheless.

"Trust me; you'll fit right in with all the other creepy hats people wear around here. You wouldn't believe how many different bizarre hats I've seen in pictures my friends sent me from here, so you're safe." With that topic of discussion settled, they continued out the door and down the stairs to the lobby. Upon entering the plain white hallway, they were greeted by Mona, Tara, and Clara, all dressed in jeans and plain colored t-shirts- Mona in red, Tara in powder blue, and Clara in navy blue-, sitting in a triangle while they chatted quietly amongst themselves. Hearing the couple's footsteps approaching, the three turned their heads in unison toward Kagome and Inuyasha, but their main set of focus was set on the latter of the two mentioned people. Eyes wide, mouths slightly agape, movements stilled, their watchful eyes swept over his figure. The next thing Kagome knew, the three were tugging her away from the hanyou to huddle for an emergency girl talk, which left Inuyasha staring after them in complete confusion.

"Oh my gosh! Who is that cutie over there, Kagome?" Mona demanded excitedly.

"He's my boyfriend."

"He's the one you've been telling us about in your letters? How'd he get here?" Tara countered, not skipping a beat after Kagome had answered her first question.

"He came on a different flight and surprised me."

"Aww, he's so sweet! How long have you two been together?" Clara asked politely, trying to mind her manners when she was absolutely ecstatic to see Kagome's long discussed boyfriend.

"We've hugged, and kissed and stuff for a while, but we hadn't made it 'official' until about two weeks ago." Having that said, Kagome peeled herself from her huddled group of friends and walked back over to one very confused boyfriend of hers. She smiled warmly at him before grabbing both of his hands and reaching up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

"Miss me?" She kidded with him as she swung his hands with her own at their sides.

"What was that all about? Do they not like me, or something?" He asked, a barely noticeable tinge of worry edging his voice. She giggled almost girlishly at his remark, stilling their swaying hands as she did so.

"They really, really like you. I'll tell you the details later, okay?" He nodded, mentally sighing in relief. He normally wouldn't have cared about what anyone thought about him, but how Kagome's friends thought about him would be reflected upon her, and is they thought he was a bad match for her, then they would think lower of her, and he didn't want that to happen if it could be helped.

"Come on, Kagome- we got lots to do today, and we've totally got to catch up on what we've missed since we left, okay?" Mona's sudden cheery voice broke Inuyasha out of his trance as he looked over at his girlfriend, who nodded eagerly before letting one of his hands go and leading him with the other. He caught up to her in two hurried steps before walking side by side with her. She smiled brightly at him, mentally thanking her mom for having him come. She turned back to Clara, who was a few steps behind the couple.

"So, Clara, where do we head first?" She asked, remembering back to the days when the four of them would go to shopping strips or malls and each take a turn in alphabetical order who got to pick what store they went in. Clara grinned at her, glad that her friend from Tokyo hadn't forgotten one of their favorite pastimes. She quickly said,

"Well, I really need to wake up still, so why not head to the coffee shop for some chillers?" She suggested to the group.

"Yahoo for coffee! Vanilla caramel chiller, here I come!" Tara squeaked a little too enthusiastically. All three of the other girls sweat dropped anime style at their parading friend.

"Maybe we shouldn't let Tara go inside Uncommon Grounds…" Mona mumbled under her breath. Clara nodded in response.

"Agreed." She commented in the same manner as her friend did. Kagome frowned in thought.

"Is Uncommon Grounds the coffee store?"

"Yep, their coffee is better than the Starbuck's back in the Shibuya District!" (A/n: yes, there is a Starbuck's in Shibuya District, and yes, there is a Shibuya District in Tokyo) Clara piped happily, thinking back to all the Mocha Frappuchinos she had downed with her friends beck then. Kagome gasped happily at the thought of their being coffee better than Starbuck's. Starbuck's coffee was almost as good as Inuyasha's kisses (_almost_), so if this Uncommon Grounds had even better coffee…hmm…Inuyasha might just start having some competition for her affections (A/n: I would seriously say that there is no contest between kisses and Starbuck's or Uncommon Grounds coffee. The Uncommon Grounds coffee would win me over any day).

"Uhh…Kagome…?" Inuyasha whispered in Kagome's ear, giving her that "what-the-hell-are-you-insane-people-talking-about" look, so as not to make Kagome's friends think he was weird, or anything. Kagome understood what he was trying to ask, and whispered back,

"Coffee is a popular drink in my time. You can have it hot or cold, but it's better cold. I'll help you out when we get there, okay?"

"That's a relief. My head already hurts. What about those…"

"Starbuck's and Uncommon Grounds are places that sell coffee. It's where a lot of people like to get coffee when their out." Inuyasha nodded his gratitude as they continued down the street toward a hanging sign that swayed gently in the breeze reading "Uncommon Grounds" in big powder blue letters.

"Ooh, goody! We're here!" Clara chirped as they all filed into the coffee shop. The inside of the building had a sort of…warmth to it that Inuyasha just couldn't quite put his clawed finger on. The walls were a deep royal blue, with many different paintings and pictures all varying in themes lining them. Beige tiled floors reflected the soft glares the small tea light candle lamps at each coffee table gave off, the said small tables strewn about the opposite half of the shop, with little powder blue couches and love seats surrounding each table. Most of the light in the space was provided by two windows on the same wall as the door, one on either side of its frame. Just ahead of the door was a beige counter, and beyond that several machines Inuyasha was not familiar with that seemed to be mixing and brewing the coffee Kagome and her friends talked about. The drinks itself, as well as all the different things the workers were putting in it, all smelled wonderfully sweet, the gentle aroma filtering through the hanyou's nose pleasantly. Clara took the front of the line, Mona and Tara following behind, and Inuyasha and Kagome taking up the back. As Kagome inspected the menu, she wondered if she should try something new, or stick with mocha, like she always did…hmm…

Oh, wait…Inuyasha can't have dark chocolate. He seemed okay with milk chocolate and white chocolate, but dark chocolate was too powerful for his dog demon half to handle.

She scanned the items again as her friends ordered what they wanted, and she remembered trying the white raspberry mocha chiller once before, with Tara before they moved, and it tasted awesome. Inuyasha should be able to stomach it, so that wouldn't be an issue. She smiled at him and told him what flavor she was getting and asked if he would be okay with that. He nodded his head in response, trusting her to know what she was doing in the matter of something like this. As Mona and Tara stepped aside to wait for their drinks to be made, Kagome stepped up to the counter and ordered two small white raspberry mocha chillers. The cashier rang up the price to be a total of four pounds even. After handing the needed money over, she guided Inuyasha over to the side to wait with the others for their coffee.

"Hmm…this actually isn't bad…" Inuyasha mumbled in between sips of the cold drink through the straw sticking out of the lid. It tasted nearly as sweet as it smelled back at the shop, making Inuyasha one very, very content puppy. When Kagome didn't respond to his remark, he turned to see her in her own little world, her eyes all glittery and dazzled.

"Mmm…this is soooo good!" Kagome mumbled with the straw still stuck in her mouth, a loopy, almost drunken smile spread across her face. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes and continued walking by her side down the street toward the next store.

(Later that evening, around 8:30…)

"-Phew- It's great to be back in the room!" Kagome said as she flopped down next to Inuyasha, who had already lied across the top of the blankets and was staring at the ceiling with a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face. When he didn't say anything, Kagome looked at him and asked what was bothering him.

"Tomorrow's the night of the new moon…" He mumbled almost sadly. It's not that he was sad about not being able to have claws, or that Kagome couldn't pet his ears (okay, it was partially because Kagome couldn't pet his ears, but no one needed to know _that_), but it was the fact that Kagome seemed to treat him…differently…when he was a full human than when he was in his normal state. She seemed to speak more softly, touch him more tenderly, and act all the more gentle with him when he was in his human form. He couldn't help but feel a little down because of that. He wasn't going to tell her just yet, he wanted her to see the pain it caused his human half, and the only was to do that was to let his human half show itself in the shadows of the new moon. At the same time, he was a bit afraid of tomorrow. He knew there was no real threat here that he couldn't handle in his human form, but when he showed Kagome how much it was hurting him to be treated differently because his blood was different, who was to say that he wouldn't cry or not? Normally, it wouldn't be a problem to fight back the tears, but he was a whole lot more vulnerable in his human form, more easily broken up inside, weaker than when he was a half demon.

"I know, Inuyasha…" She whispered, stroking his cheek with the tips of her fingertips tenderly before nuzzling the spot with her nose.

"…I know." She rested her head in the crook of his neck, letting her chin rest comfortably on his shoulder. He leaned his head against hers, neither one caring that they weren't under the covers, as they drifted off to sleep.

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There you are people! Next chappie will talk about what they do during sunlight a little, but for the most part, it'll be about when new moon falls upon the couple…MAJOR FLUFF IN THE NEXT CHAPPIE!

Confucius say you hit button and review!


	4. Fluff on new moon night

I'm back, everyone! Moving right along with chappie four! Oh, and next time anyone reviews on this story, tell me how much longer you guys want the story, so I can kinda get the idea of where to stop it at how many chapters. Keep it in mind, okay? Here's the next chapter!

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"Hey, Kagome...are you awake…?" Inuyasha turned over carefully and nudged the girl's shoulder gently, mainly to see if she reacted at all. When she didn't respond at first, he turned his head and stole a sideways glance back over to the clock on the dresser. Had he been able to read the digital numbers on the clock properly, he would have known that it was three thirty in the morning. However, he remained oblivious to the time system of her era, too used to his feudal methods of ways of telling time. His focus readjusted to Kagome as she finally registered that she wasn't the only one awake. In truth, neither had slept very well that night, both of them pondering on how the effects of new moon could be concealed.

"Inuyasha…I've been thinking…"

"So have I…about the new moon and all…what about you?"

"Same goes for me, I think if we're back here by four in the evening, which is almost two hours before sunset, we should manage to keep your secret hidden." Inuyasha found her reasoning made sense enough that it would work, so he agreed. Not much else was said between the two, though they just couldn't bring themselves to sleep; Inuyasha because he was dreading the new moon and how much difference there would be between he and his girlfriend, Kagome because she knew he was dreading it.

It was only about five hours later, at eight thirty three, that Inuyasha felt Kagome leave the bed to get dressed. He sighed inwardly as he followed suit, grabbing a pair of faded blue jeans, a pair of boxers, and a thin grey sweater with the same eagle on the chest as the shirt he was wearing now (yes, Kagome's mom bought him clothes from American Eagle) before retreating to the bathroom of the space. Thankfully, Ms. Higurashi had Sota teach Inuyasha the right way to put on the boxers, so he swapped those with the pair he had on and quickly changed out of yesterday's outfit (he hadn't brought any pajamas). When he emerged from the bathroom, Kagome sported a pair of tight light blue jeans and an emerald green cup sleeved shirt with a white cami top underneath to cover her cleavage. Upon his reappearance, she smiled welcomingly at him as she grabbed a compact brush from her duffle bag and walked to the full length mirror. Opening the compact blue brush and popping the bristles out for use, she began to run the brush through her thick locks of hair, making each tress she combed shimmer even more than it originally had. As she looked into the mirror, she smiled as Inuyasha's reflection walked up behind hers. Soon she saw two grey clad arms wrap around her reflection's waist, which was followed by her own back being pressed up against Inuyasha's chest. She finished the task of brushing her hair, and tossed the brush on the bed beside them, but did nothing to pull away from her boyfriend's embrace. Inuyasha leaned his head down and began to nuzzle her newly brushed and fluffy hair with his nose, letting the feel and scent of her tresses take over all of his senses as he closed his eyes. He faintly heard her giggle before he felt her hair sort of twist around against his face, and before he knew it, she was turned to face him before he found her arms were wrapped securely around his waist and shoulders. Opening his eyes, she greeted his amber orbs with her own hazel ones. Their moment was broken as she glanced at the clock, which was now informing her it was nine forty seven, and they needed to meet her friends back at Uncommon Grounds in an hour and thirteen minutes.

"Inuyasha, we gotta go meet up with the others." The only answer she got in return was a barely audible whimper, but he let her go and followed her out the door nonetheless. He mentally promised himself ahead of time that he would try his best not to mope too much at least until they came back to the room; he didn't want Kagome's friends thinking he was some schizophrenic nutcase or something. So he did nothing to object as she retraced their steps from yesterday down the street to Uncommon Grounds. She paused outside the door, turning to face Inuyasha with a sympathetic look on her face.

"I know what tonight is and all, so if you want to leave earlier than we planned, I'm fine with that. Just let me know, okay?" Inuyasha grinned half-heartedly, but nodded nonetheless. Upon entering the little shop again, Mona waved them over to a table, but the couple couldn't help but notice that Mona was alone, and Clara and Tara were not present. As they approached Kagome's friend, however, it became evident that she was going to explain the lack of a group.

"Good morning, guys. I just got a call from Tara's cell phone; she says her boyfriend came by and picked her up for a surprise date at the local café. Clara needs new clothes for school, and you know how bad she is a shopping for herself, so I agreed to come with. We figured you guys could spend some time by yourselves to get a good feel for the place before we give you a good shopping trip you'll never forget. They said they'd meet up with us tomorrow here at noon, alright?" Kagome nodded in agreement to the plan. Mona smiled her response.

"Looks like you two will get to do whatever you want 'till then." Mona glanced quickly at her watch before saying she was late, and rushing off with a hasty goodbye. Inuyasha and Kagome could only blink in surprise at the sudden change of events as they watched Mona rev her silver punch buggy's engine and speed off.

"Well…I wasn't expecting that…" Kagome mumbled somewhat still confused by the news. Inuyasha agreed in the same manner, then asked her what they should do now.

"Hmm…it isn't even eleven thirty yet…what do you say we get the same coffee we got yesterday?" Kagome offered. Inuyasha's ears perked up as he nodded his head eagerly at the idea of more white raspberry…err…something-something! He couldn't pronounce the last two words correctly, no matter how hard he tried, so he didn't object when Kagome told him to have a seat (she was careful not to say 'sit') and wait while she got the drinks. He plopped down none too gracefully on the powder blue love seat and let his eyes follow her every move toward the counter. When Kagome had reached the counter, he let his gaze switch from gazing at her to looking outside to check the position of the sun, and he found it must be getting close to midday, considering the sun was almost parallel to the ground in the center of the sky (but had he known how to read a clock, he would have found that it was about eleven thirty by now). The young hanyou couldn't help but gulp at the fact he could no longer even sense any trace of his own demonic aura, and it was nowhere near close to sunset yet! It might not be noticeable to anyone else but he and his girlfriend, but its absence certainly made him feel uncomfortable about it.

"I'm back!" Kagome's sudden cheerful voice pulled him out of his dreary thoughts as she handed him one of the little plastic cups of iced coffee. Taking the cold cup in his hand and giving his girlfriend a gruff 'thank you', he practically downed the whole drink in a matter of three gulps. He barely tasted a drop of it. He must have looked as depressed as he felt, because he faintly heard Kagome sigh sadly before snuggling up to his shoulder.

"It's alright, let's go do something fun, ne?" She whispered, nearly laughing when Inuyasha blushed furiously at her remark.

"Not what I meant, buster; don't get too hopeful."

"Whew…wait- WHAT?" He all but shouted, throwing Kagome into a giggling fit. She stood up and skipped out of the store, Inuyasha chasing her closely behind.

"Hopeful…HOPEFUL, you actually think I'd get HOPEFUL at some remark like that?" _'I'm not _that_ transparent…**am I**…?'_ He half demanded, half joked as he caught her around the waist. At this point poor Kagome was laughing so hard Inuyasha was wondering if she could even breathe.

"I was just joking you big puppy!"

"Rrrrr…I hate those stupid 'puppy' jokes…" Deep down, they both knew he didn't mind her saying it, so Kagome was unfazed by his little growl of protest. She simply rolled her eyes at the hanyou before a growl emerged from her stomach. Inuyasha's brows knit together in a frown as he set his gaze on her stomach.

"You haven't eaten anything." What was supposed to be a question ended up coming out as a knowing statement. She blushed and shook her head in response.

"Not since I was back home, now that I think about it. The thought of food had just never occurred to me…" She mumbled before laying her hand on top of Inuyasha's on her stomach. She giggled when his stomach growled in the same manner as hers had, the giggle fit ending up as a hysterical laugh as Inuyasha blinked down at his own lean gut.

"I think they're trying to communicate!" Kagome mumbled between fits of laughter as Inuyasha continued to stare down at his rumbling, grey clad stomach.

"What do you say we get something to eat, Inuyasha?" The said hanyou's eyes were pulled away from his stomach at his girlfriend's suggestion to nod his head in agreement, but paused in thought.

"Wait…do you know where exactly there's a place we can get any food?"

Well, that certainly put a damper on things.

"Err…not exactly, but we can look along this street. There's bound to be some little café or shop where we can get something to eat. Come on!" She eagerly grabbed his hand and led him down the street in search of any sign of a place to eat. Flower shops, pet stores, salons, bars, antique shops, clothing stores, all passed by the couple until Kagome spotted…a concession stand!

"Hey Inuyasha, let's get something there!" He followed her gaze to a little enclosed stand with a lone man standing behind the counter. There was no line, but judging from the people eating around the stand, it was a pretty popular place. That and the food smelled pretty decent to Inuyasha's delicate sense of smell.

"Uhh…sure, I guess…but I have no idea what kind of food your era has, so…ah…"

"Don't worry about it Inuyasha, how about we both agree on something and just get enough for the two of us? To be honest, I don't really know what they'll have, either…this is a whole new country to me." With that said, they walked up to the counter and surveyed the menu, which had everything from hot dogs to ramen (A/n: not the kind you buy at the store. It's similar, but there's no broth and there are real veggies and meat in it) in all sorts of flavors, to ice cream. Ramen being the only thing they were both familiar with, they each got an order of ramen with chicken pieces and the assorted vegetables found in all of the flavors. After Kagome paid for the food, the man behind the counter placed the two small Styrofoam boxes in a little bag, the couple began to walk around to their next destination. For reasons unknown to Kagome, Inuyasha insisted on carrying the bag back.

"Kagome…it's a little after midday, isn't it?" Kagome turned her head to him to see his thoughtful expression focused on the position of the sun, using his era's method of telling time. Kagome glanced at her watch to see that it was indeed nearing two twenty in the afternoon. She confirmed the hanyou's hypothesis, which calmed him only enough to pry his thoughtful eyes from the sun and continue to walk down the street beside Kagome.

"What do you say we go back to the hotel room and eat? It's about an hour and a half back from here, with the traffic being this bad and all, so it'll be getting close to sunset by then." Kagome suggested as she stopped at the corner along side him.

"Sounds like I don't have much of an option, do I?" He mumbled trying his best not to sound bitter. Her gentle smile was all he got at a response, so he sighed both inwardly and outwardly before following her back to the room.

---

"Phew! We made it back to the room just as the clock strikes four!" Kagome's voice nearly blended with the soft chimes of Big Ben outside as the giant minute hand rose to the twelve on the faces of the clock tower as they walked into the room. Her cheerful tone sounded forced even to her own ears, so she didn't get all that offended when Inuyasha's mood hadn't so much as twitched out of its gloomy setting. She told him she'd be right back and left the hanyou that wouldn't be a hanyou for much longer to stare at the setting sun in dismay. Well, he mused while closing his eyes and resting his head against the cool surface of the window before him. At least he could clear things up with-

He nearly gasped as her scent faded from his powerful nose. This wasn't supposed to happen…not so soon! He sniffed frantically, but her scent was barely even there anymore…like she left, or…

"Kagome?" Thankfully, his frantic call didn't go unheard by the raven haired beauty. She popped her head over the corner of the miniature hallway between the room and the bathroom. He breathed a sigh of relief and assured her that it was nothing. She tilted her head to the side as she walked over to him, as if regarding him for a moment.

"Your hair…" She reached up and tenderly stroked a lock of his soft hair, normally a beautiful shade of silver, but now black strands began making themselves noticeable on his head. He noticed what she was looking at once his gazed at the lock resting on his shoulder. (A/n: in the fall and winter down in London, the sun usually sets between four thirty and five thirty, just to let you know)

A sudden pulse in his body caused him to cringe. In response to what she knew was happening, Kagome pulled her hand away from his peppered hair, which was quickly fading into a thick ebony color, and cupped his left cheek within her hand. The young, now human, male leaned into her touch a little more before pulling away and setting his gaze on her. He could only hope that she could see the agony in his eyes, notice the emotional pain he was in because of her instantaneous change in behavior. For a hopeful second, she seemed to regard it, but then said that she was going to go to the vending machine for a few bottles of pop for them to drink with their ramen. The tear in his heart only ripped open even wider as she leaned up and gave him a gentle, almost lingering kiss before a tender hug, with that same lingering sensation. Slowly, she slid her arms from his frame and walked away like there was nothing wrong, completely ignoring the pain so clearly obvious reflecting off of his eyes. Faintly hearing her call that she would be back in a few minutes, he could only turn his head to stare out the window painfully and let the faint beams of light given off by the stars try and wash away some of his pain.

Orange soda…cherry coke…Coca-Cola…Inuyasha's pained violet eyes staring hurtfully at her…Mountain Dew…Dr. Pepper…those violet, pain filled eyes…

She sighed in frustration, running a hand through her bangs. Why couldn't she shake that one particular image of Inuyasha's eyes staring after her as she left the room? Why did he look at her like that? All she had said was that she was going to get some bottles of soda! She hadn't said anything!

Then again…maybe it was what she hadn't said…but rather…what she had done…

She shook her head at the thought. All she had done was given him a quick kiss and a hug. Nothing out of the usual, seeing as how they were a couple, so why did he act all sad when she tried displaying some of her affections to him?

Then again…maybe it was because it was the night of the new moon. That more than likely had something to do with it, seeing as how she always tried comforting him on those nights with a bit more cuddling and tenderness…maybe that was it…? Oh well, she sighed mentally as she picked up the two Coca-Colas she had paid for and retraced her steps down the hall to the room. Upon entering the said space, she spotted Inuyasha standing before the window at a sort of angle, his body facing the desk, but his head tilted to the window. She walked over and set the two plastic bottles of soda on the dresser next to the bag of food before joining her boyfriend at the window, placing a hand on his shoulder. His eyes watched her with a sideways glance but refused to face her.

"Inuyasha what's bothering you? Do you want to talk about it?" At first he seemed to not hear what she said, so she started to open her mouth to repeat the above questions, but froze as he slowly turned his head to fully face her. It was then that she understood and couldn't help but gasp at the sight before her.

What she saw in his now violet eyes nearly made her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. Pain. The sort of pain he used to feel when he feared her rejection, was now back in his eyes with an intensity she had not seen present in those irises of his for a while, now.

"Kagome…" He started, lowering his head to cover his shimmering violet eyes with his thick black bangs.

"…I know this is going to sound kinda stupid, but…but when I'm a human…why do you act like…like you…you…almost want me to stay like this…you're more gentle, you act like you're afraid to speak too loudly…all I want to know is…is that because…because you prefer me like this…?" With every word he said, it became increasingly difficult to bite back the tears that were forming on the corners of his eyes. Damn the new moon for making him so damn emotional!

Kagome could only watch in horror as Inuyasha's shoulders began to tremble from fighting back the tears she knew he felt he did not deserve to shed, that he couldn't afford to shed. She had to admit that she was noticeably more…gentle with him on his human nights, but for reasons differing from what he thought. A dim anger began to start in the pit of her stomach for him even thinking of something like that, but the small flame was doused at the thought that if he had thought those things, it was only her fault. Thinking back to how much more attention she gave him, how much more closely she cuddled to him, how much more softly she kissed him…though she only did it to comfort him, he was never informed of her intentions. And now, watching Inuyasha force his tears to remain dormant, she felt her heart nearly shatter at what she had unknowingly done to him.

"Inuyasha…" Stepping up to the trembling teenage boy, she rested her head on his chest, slipping her arms around his now entirely trembling frame to hold him close. This action only caused Inuyasha to tremble even more, unsure of whether to push her away gently or hold her close.

"I only act like that when you're human because I try to comfort you. I know how you always get depressed on the nights of the new moon, and I just try to console you. If you ever interpreted it as me liking your human form better, it's my fault; I should have explained it to you. But understand this, Inuyasha: I couldn't love you any more in your human form than your half demon or demon forms. To me, the only difference is your appearance. To me, you're always Inuyasha, and no night of the new moon, or loss of Tetsusaiga is ever going to chance the way I feel." The tears Inuyasha had been fighting to keep back were now suspending themselves on his eyelids, blurring his vision. He squeezed his eyes shut as he clutched her closer to him in a possessive embrace, burying his face into her hair as only a few tears escaped his shut eyelids.

"Thank you, Kagome…" He mumbled as a few more tears trekked down his face. Kagome could feel the tiny droplets of water being absorbed into her hair, but said nothing. Rather, she reached up and began rubbing his back up and down slowly and in a soothing manner.

"…thank you so much." They only held each other closer for the longest while, not saying anything, and not needing to. Inuyasha had managed to swallow the rest of his tears of relief, and the tremor in his body long gone. After a few more moments in the tender embrace, Kagome broke the silence.

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

"Hmm?"

"The ramen we got is starting to get cold."

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Phew…there it is folks! Push the button below and tell me what you think so far.


	5. Inu need a chiropractor!

Okay, first- I'm so sorry for the long wait, and second- SESSHOMARU FAN PEOPLE PLEASE DO NOT ATTACK ME FOR WHAT I AM ABOUT TO WRITE! PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEEEEEAAAAAASE DON'T ATTACK ME! –mumbles- you'll just have to see for yourself…oh, and Inuyasha's much more in character, now.

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"Maybe you should wait until that cools off…" Kagome warned as Inuyasha reached for one of the foam containers of ramen they had bought not too long ago.

"Feh, it's not like it's gonna burn a hole in my tongue, so who cares if it's hot or not?" His usual, gruff attitude kicked right back in. Kagome wasn't sure she was glad that he was no longer so sweet and soft, but it was better than seeing him shed another tear. She wasn't so sure she could bear that pained look on his face. Now she vaguely wondered if he ever felt the same way back when he used to make her cry unintentionally so many times. Shaking off the thought, she took the other container of ramen and placed it before her, eager to dig right in.

"Oh, almost forgot- forks! I'll be back in a sec!" The miko stood and walked over to the bag they had carried the food home in, which was currently still laying on the dresser beside the bed, and began sifting through the several napkins and little packets of sweet and sour sauce they had neglected (because, dude, that just kills the ramen, man!) until she came across the two plastic forks on the bottom of the bag. She pulled them out with a little 'hah!' of glee under her breath and skipped happily over to the desk they had both situated themselves at.

"Here ya go!" She said in an almost sing-song voice as she handed him one of the two forks. He took it with a creeped out look on his face but said nothing more as he stabbed the fork into the noodles eagerly.

"Inuyasha, I think that's too-"

"YEEEOOOOOOOOOW!"

"…hot." By this time, Inuyasha was waving a clawless hand frantically in front of his open mouth while his slightly swollen tongue lulled out in a desperate attempt to cool itself of the burning it received.

"My 'ongue! My 'ongue!" He mumbled between swears and curses (all of which pronounced incorrectly due to his tongue being lulled out and all) and the desperate fanning of his tongue. Normally, temperature was no issue to him, but his tongue was much more sensitive when he was a human than when he was a half-demon.

"I tried to tell you, but you just wouldn't listen…"

"Shhuh uhph, wench."

"I'll say it…"

"Not while I'm in m' human form! That's just plain rotten!"

"Heh…kinda forgot…sorry…" She chuckled as she watched him grumble under his breath, all the while poking the ramen noodles with his fork.

"I thought you said it was getting cold."

"I thought it was. It sounds like you regretted me saying that, huh?" She laughed at his cute little pouting. Even when he was in his human form, he still looked like a puppy when he pouted.

"Well…it was comfy back there…I liked it…" He mumbled so softly Kagome almost missed it as he continued to poke his ramen. A light tinge of pink was visible painting her cheeks from the comment he had thought went unheard by anyone but himself. There was a long several minutes of silence as they finished their ramen before Inuyasha spoke again.

"Hey Kagome, can I ask you something?" He looked up from his –now empty- ramen container meekly. Her only response was a simple nod of her head. She couldn't figure out why he was suddenly so sheepish and timid, almost like a little child asking where babies come from. "Has anyone ever told you that you have really squishy boobs?"

Well, that explained it.

"Sit."

WHAM!

"I was just asking!!!" The poor human boy wailed from his spot on the floor. He attempted to get up, but the excruciating pain in his lower back made him almost entirely immobile. "Great, you broke my back, wench!"

"Sit."

WHAM!

"DO YOU INTEND TO KEEP ME LIKE THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE?"

"Do you intend to call your girlfriend 'wench' all the time?" At this point, Inuyasha almost forgot the pain in his back when he saw the glaring fire in Kagome's eyes as a vein pulsed under her scalp. What parts of his body that could still move were currently shrinking into the ground under her fiery glare. Even if he were a half demon, he knew better than to pick a fight with Kagome when she was this pissed.

"Well…no, I don't, but I still think you broke my back."

"Serves you right for noticing how my chest felt and daring to tell me about it."

"It's not my fault they're so squishy!"

"Sit."

WHAM!

At this point, Inuyasha's back problem was beyond any chiropractor's diagnosis of a broken back, and it was obvious he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon without (maybe even with) Kagome's help, and right about now it looked like she was perfectly content to leave him there on the floor with a chair lying over his battered back.

"Ya mind giving me a hand up?" He asked her irritably, but almost regretted in doing so from the look in her eyes. Rather than oblige to his request, she promptly sat up and cleared their empty foam containers in the garbage can beside the desk before clicking the light off and crawling into bed.

"Hey Kagome, are ya gonna help me?"

No response.

"Uhh…Kagome…?"

No response.

"Kaaaagooooooooomeeeeee."

No response.

"I love you."

-grumble grumble-

"Kagome?"

No response.

To be honest, she felt kinda lonely in the bed without Inuyasha to cuddle up to. She was just too used to snuggling up to him, too accustomed to his warm arms encircling her, to be able to sleep well by herself again; sure, she'd get a good night's sleep, but it just didn't quite feel the same. But she wouldn't cave in so easily. Nope, not until he _begged_ her to help him, which she was quite sure he would eat his own ears before begging to anyone for anything, so this was just how things were going to work out until he managed to come up with a damn good apology and that's all there was to it. She almost laughed when he whimpered from his spot on the floor like a pup whining to be let up on the bed. The thought made her cup her hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh that bubbled up her throat. He whimpered again, this time in pain as he tried moving. Her heart broke a little for him being in pain but it still wasn't enough to get her to move and help him.

A soft 'thump' on the foot of the bed made her jump a little, but she did nothing. Burrowing her head under the covers, she listened with baited breath. Another mass suddenly applied its pressure onto the bed beside her and seized her by the waist with one arm. She peeped one eye out from under the blankets to see a pair of violet eyes glaring at her triumphantly. He stared at her form under the covers until she managed to lift her head from out of the blankets and fully look at him. His fangless smirk simply screamed the words "I just beat you and now I have you cornered" as he tightened his arm around her waist. He was lying on his stomach, given that his back was still simply out of commission, so he must have crawled up to the bed and slid up the mattress to her. That seemed to be the only explanation as to how he managed to get up here.

"Are you still mad at me, even though you completely shattered my back and left me with a bruised ego?" He half mumbled through the pillowcase. Her eyes softened and she shook her head in reply.

"I'm sorry I broke your back."

"Don't be sorry for breaking it…" She was kind of shocked for him to suddenly be so soft again. "…because you didn't break it- you shattered it. You should be sorry for _shattering_ my back." She laughed a little under her breath. So much for being soft, but this was the Inuyasha she fell in love with- the fun-loving Inuyasha who was arrogant but playful in his own way.

"Is there a difference?"

"Hmm…no, I guess not…but m' back still hurts like hell." He grimaced as his back continued to pulse acute jolts of pain up and down his spine with the slightest movements that directly involved his spine. Kagome's brows knit together in a worried frown as she stroked his hair away from his face.

"What can I do to make it at least a little better until tomorrow?" She whispered softly. He looked thoughtful for a moment, until a sly grin slowly spread across his face.

"Close your eyes." As puzzled as she was, she did as he asked of her, and didn't peek, even when she heard him give off a small hiss of pain. She felt him shift a little bit just before his lips pressed to hers in a chaste kiss. She responded, though careful not to touch any part of his body other than grasp his hand. As they separated, he buried his nose into the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply.

"Okay, let me stay like this until morning, and I'll call it square." She giggled at his comment, running her thumb back and forth across his smooth hand in reassurance.

"You've got a deal, though I don't know what good this is gonna do for your back…"

"Your scent always makes me feel…I dunno…comfortable, and I like that a lot. So just hold still, would ya?" She giggled softly before nodding her head against his and wishing him a goodnight. He was already asleep.

-next morning-

Inuyasha yawned slightly before cracking one eye open. The welcoming beams of light that poured in from the small part of the curtains fell on his hair, which, much to his relief and delight, was its usual color of shimmering silver. His dog ears swiveled atop his head, as if to greet him from their six hour departure. He hesitantly twisted his back a bit so that he was now lying on his side, relieved that he could no longer feel any pain in his back. _'Must have healed in my sleep, when the sun first rose…'_ He thought, burrowing his nose deeper into Kagome's hair. She absentmindedly stroked his silver locks in her sleep, mumbling something incoherent under her breath. He grinned before placing a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Inu…bad dog…go to sleep."

"I am NOT a dog!" He barked –no pun intended- loudly at her half asleep form. Unconsciously, he smacked a hand over his mouth once he realized how loud he had said that. Unfortunately, he did so a little too late, and Kagome was awake.

"Oh…g'morning, Inuyasha…how's your back?"

"Better, thanks…we're even now." He replied with a fanged smirk. Kagome sat up, rubbing her eyes a bit to wake them fully of sleep.

"What time is it?" The miko mumbled as her hand deftly tried to smooth out her tousled bangs. The hanyou shrugged his reply, honestly not knowing how to read that damn clock she had on her dresser. So, she looked for herself, a bit surprised that it was eleven in the morning. She gasped once she realized that her friends had told her to meet them at Uncommon Grounds at noon.

"Inuyasha, we have to go! Get dressed, okay?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah, yeah, I'm gettin' to it." He grumbled before grabbing whatever clothes he saw on the top of his pile and stalked into the bathroom, not really looking forward to going out today. He wasn't sure exactly _why_ he dreaded this particular day so much, but he still wasn't looking forward to today.

He inspected his reflection once he had completed the task of getting dressed. In his opinion, he didn't look half bad with his black button up casual shirt and a pair of faded acid washed jeans. Hmm…now he wondered how Kagome thought he looked…but he shook his head and walked out of the bathroom with his usual smirk spread across his face. That smirk was soon replaced when his jaw wound up finding a nice residence on the carpeted floor at the sight of Kagome. She wore a tight pair of light jeans, which showed off her hips quite well, in his mind. Her tight fitting maroon t-shirt also reminded him of her upper curves and the way they felt against him. The sad thing was he almost didn't notice her turn around and ask him something. Her words blurred out of his usually focused hearing once his mind focused on her body. Not for the first time, he had to fight the little demon in the back of his mind that was egging him on to go for it, mainly because he really wasn't ready, and he knew that neither was she.

"Inuyasha, we've already been through this conversation before. My face is higher up than that, thank you very much." Her sudden tone of voice shattered his thoughts, which was most likely his saving grace from another night with no back. He immediately refocused his gaze to her eyes, which were all the same just as alluring, if not more so because the emotions that were always evident in her swirling orbs were a mystery he would never get tired of trying to solve.

"What were you saying?"

"I said we need to meet my friends today. We need to pick up Tara from her boyfriend's apartment complex. So, come on!" She piped cheerfully, practically dragging the hanyou out of the hotel room.

"Kags, you're a whole three seconds late! You're slacking off!" Clara kidded as Kagome screeched to a halt in front of her friend's punch buggy, a not-so-thrilled Inuyasha in tow. The afore mentioned miko rolled her eyes at the sarcasm dripping out of her friend's mouth but giggled nonetheless.

"Wait a second…once we pick up Tara and her boyfriend, how the hell are we all going to fit into _that_?" Kagome exclaimed as she pointed at the pathetic silver Volkswagen beetle parked on the curb. Mona seemed to suddenly remember that the bug will have to seat one more person than originally planned, considering Inuyasha, seeing as how her expression went from pure glee to slight embarrassment at her mistake.

"Oh…err…Kags, why don't you just sit in Inuyasha's lap on the way back?" Clara meekly piped up from beside Mona. The said friend snapped her fingers in agreement. The hanyou of the group, however, seemed a little fidgety and reluctant to agree. _'Kagome…sitting in my lap…in a tiny moving thing…with no room…in my lap…she'll have to lean in really close…her head might be close to mine, unless she rests it against my neck…but she'll be in my lap. I can't really cross my arms, so they'll have to be around Kagome's waist…while she's in my lap. What if she falls asleep…in my lap? She'll be _in_ my_ lap_!'_ Though his thoughts were a hazy cloud of panic and worry, he agreed nonetheless (though he seemed not to either notice or care that Kagome seemed ecstatic about the idea). And so they all piled into the little Volkswagen bug, Mona driving, Clara in the passenger seat, Inuyasha and Kagome taking the back seats. The entire car ride, Inuyasha's ears rang with the girls' conversations on boys, his ears perking up once when he heard his name mentioned.

"…And how did you two meet again?" Mona peered at Kagome through the rear view mirror in anticipation of a response. Inuyasha's gaze returned to staring out the window as he rested his head in his hand while his arm rested on the car door.

'_Feh…I was stabbed to a damn tree by my girlfriend's previous incarnate, and she was being attacked my Mistress Centipede. She nearly ripped out my hair, I called her stupid, mistook her for my ex, and said she was weak. She ripped the arrow out of my chest, and I killed Mistress Centipede, then attempted to kill her. An old hag put an enchanted necklace on me to subdue me, and my girlfriend was spared. Nothing unusual about that, is there?' _Inuyasha thought sarcastically as he stared out the window. He glared at his faint reflection on the glass. How could he have been so stupid? And how did Kagome manage to love him, even after everything he had done?

"We met by the old sacred tree in front of my house."

'_Well, that's an understatement.'_ The hanyou almost failed to suppress a snort.

"Oh…and how did you two fall in love?"

'_Ya see, I've loved her since the whole Thunder Brothers nearly killing her and I thought that she was dead, but I think we both knew for sure that it was mutual back in Kaguya's Dream Castle.'_

"We're not really sure when it happened…first we were friends, then we ended up going out."

'_If killing demons and nearly getting killed in the process is considered a date, then I can't count how many times she 'accompanied' me on a date.'_

"And are there any thoughts of marriage?"

'_Girl, you have absolutely _noidea_ how many, do you?'_ However, the hanyou looked at the reflection of Kagome from the glass. Hey, it'd be interesting to hear her answer.

"Err…I dunno."

'_WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW? Or…maybe she's just saying that because she thinks I'm not considering it? Maybe it's because she's shy? That's most likely the reason.'_ Soothed by his own thoughts, he drowned out the rest of the conversation until Mona pulled the little car into the parking lot of a standard looking (and by standard, mean a fully grey and absolutely dull) apartment complex (with only about thirty apartments that made it up).

Everyone piled out of the car and made their way toward the entrance. Inuyasha suddenly froze. _'For a split second…I thought I smelt…'_ He shook his head. No, that was impossible. He caught up with the girls as they pressed a button with the word "Takahashi" written beneath the pressed button. _'Takahashi? But…that's…_my_ last name…' _With another shake of his head, he followed the three girls through the doors, and turned a left to face a flight of stairs heading upward. They ascended them, and continued down a pure snow white painted hallway lined with black doors, each bearing a gold plate and a number signifying the difference of the apartment (which was basically only the owner, and the number on the door).

"Here we are!" Clara piped cheerfully as she and Mona stopped in front of a door with the number 227 engraved on the gold plate hung at eye level. Mona knocked on the door (rather loudly, in Inuyasha's opinion), and there was a pause before the door opened to reveal its apartment's owner. As the door swung back, Inuyasha couldn't control his outburst of, well,

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"Ah, brother…you've finally gotten together with that girl, I see."

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Again, I sincerely apologize for the wait. I've had school and all. Happy holidays!


	6. Are those bunnies or clouds?

Okay, about the whole 'Sesshomaru fans please do not attack me' thing, I was referring to this chapter (thinking ahead…oops.) and so I reinforce only three words: DON'T ATTACK ME!

…here's the chappie.

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"What is it, brother? You look as if you've seen a ghost." Sesshomaru noted in an almost foreign…_brotherly_ voice? What the hell was going on here? Before Inuyasha could voice his confusion, Tara appeared at the door beside his half brother.

"You and Inuyasha are brothers, Sesshy? Why didn't you tell me? No wonder he's so freakin' hot!" She exclaimed as she leaned against Sesshomaru's arm. Inuyasha couldn't but wonder why Sesshomaru hadn't killed this human for touching him yet. The hanyou's bewilderment only increased as his older half brother rested his hand on her opposite hip, actually _letting_ her lean on him even more! What was wrong with his brother's head today? And what was he doing in _this_ time period? Wait a second…

"Tara, may I speak to my brother in private?" Sesshomaru asked the girl attached to his waist. She giggled and reached up on her tip toes to give him a peck on the cheek (for which Inuyasha still didn't get why she wasn't dead yet) before nodding and walking out of the apartment. Inuyasha watched his older brother gesture with a sweep of his arm to come inside. He turned to look at Kagome, who seemed just as confused and uncomfortable with this as he was, before sighing and walking into the apartment. Once he was inside, Sesshomaru lightly closed the door behind him. Inuyasha didn't turn to face his brother, keeping his back to the afore mentioned youkai. There was an awkward silence between the two half siblings before Sesshomaru spoke up.

"You're not from this era, are you?" Sesshomaru's voice was no longer brotherly in any way. If anything, to his younger brother it seemed that the coldness in his voice had returned in a much smaller dose. Inuyasha cringed at the thought that he stuck out so much in the crowd. Normally, he didn't feel obligated to tell his brother a damn thing, but he felt himself respond before he could stop himself.

"…No, I'm not." He heard Sesshomaru sigh heavily before responding.

"It figures, seeing as how you didn't seem to remember…"

"Remember? What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha wheeled around, eyes widened slightly, one eyebrow arched in curiosity. Another sigh was the only reply he received for a few moments.

"Four hundred ninety-seven years ago, you and I had put aside our differences. Not at a brotherly angle quite at that time, but more or less of a truce. We actually didn't act like brothers until about one hundred seventy-four years after that. I lost connection with you for a long time, and I could only assume that it had something to do with an enchanted well you had mentioned to me years ago. I haven't heard from you until just now. But I knew you weren't the Inuyasha I had known even from all that time ago when you shouted in surprise (and your hair hasn't been this long since the Feudal Era). I didn't want to draw Tara or her two sisters into this whole mess, and that's the only reason I asked you to come in here. That is all that I can tell you. The rest, you'll have to find out on your own." Inuyasha stood there, absorbing his older sibling's words, trying to register that this was the same Sesshomaru that had slain thousands with no remorse, attempted to kill his younger half brother with just as much sympathy, and had despised humans (albeit Rin, for reasons unknown to anyone) with the white hot intensity of the seven hells. The Sesshomaru standing before him seemed almost like a completely different person than the one he had grown accustomed to fighting over the years.

"What is your connection with Tara?" The hanyou was finding it difficult to find his voice, given that he was so deeply immersed in his own thoughts.

"She is the reincarnation of Rin, as I'm sure you must have noticed." He had noticed their resemblance (minus the ridiculous little ponytail Rin had always worn on the top of her head) to the afore mentioned little girl, despite the age difference between the two females. He was, however, not fully satisfied with the response. Sensing this, the older of the two finished his answer.

"Tara is my girlfriend…and potential mate."

"I thought you hated humans…except Rin."

"I have changed in the five hundred years that you have not yet lived out on your own. For now, I will let the topic of the difference between our respective time periods; the girls are waiting on us to leave. We will, however, discuss this at a more convenient time."

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"You just did, but go ahead."

"Why are you wearing pink pajamas with little rabbits on them?"

"They're not rabbits, they're clouds."

"Okay, fine- why are you wearing pink pajamas with little _clouds_ that_ look_ like rabbits on them? You look gay."

"I do not look gay. Tara bought them for me, and if I hadn't worn them, I'd have had more marks on my face than I did back in the Feudal Era." Inuyasha had noticed earlier that Sesshomaru had no longer sported his two stripes on either side of his face, and the pink marks on his eyelids and navy blue crescent moon on his forehead were nonexistent as well. Hey…how'd those come off? He had always just assumed that they were his brother's demon markings, since his were purple and jagged when he was a full fledged demon.

"Wait, wait, you're telling me that was _rouge_ that you put on back then?"

"It wasn't rouge, it was war paint."

"…Pink…war paint…"

"Why are you emphasizing on the fact that I wear pink stuff?"

"…Do you really want me to answer that honestly?"

"…No. I think you should just wait outside with the girls for me and keep your mouth shut for the time being." He turned around and walked into his bedroom, shutting the door securely behind him. Inuyasha left the apartment and rejoined Kagome aside from the three sisters.

"What did he say?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Of course I have to worry! This is _Sesshomaru_ we're talking about!"

"Calm down, would ya? If I thought he was going to be a threat, I'd have told you that we needed to go, wouldn't I?"

"Yeah…but…" He gave her a chaste kiss to silence her from continuing.

"Trust me, okay? And besides, he's wearing pink pajamas with bunnies on them-"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU- THEY'RE CLOUDS!"


	7. why mikos and sake don't mix

Just a heads up- the chappie after this one is really sad (but this story will have a happy ending, I promise), so to compensate for the angst to come, I tried making this one at least somewhat funny until more towards the end of the chapter. So, enjoy!

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"So, where are we heading to now?" Kagome piped in an effort to change the mood of the setting. Though the effort did not go unappreciated, it was still for naught. Tara, seemingly the only one who was oblivious to the painfully obvious tension between the two male siblings of the group in the apartment complex, answered brightly,

"Ohh, we're going to Mona's boyfriend's place for a late Christmas party!" She clapped her hands together in absolute glee. Her two sisters started to chat with Kagome and Tara about gifts and whatnot, once again leaving the opportunity for conversation open between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru (not that they necessarily _wanted_ to have that option, but it was still there). The younger of the two men fidgeted slightly before turning to his older brother and –in harsh whispers- asked,

"Err…Sesshomaru, what's the problem with the whole 'me being in this time period' situation? It hasn't-"

"What part of 'we will discuss this at a more convenient time' didn't you get, moron? We'll talk about it later." Sesshomaru growled under his breath in the same manner as he was spoken to. He faintly heard his younger half brother growl under his breath before turning back toward Kagome and wrapping an arm around her back to join in on the conversation beside his girlfriend. Before Sesshomaru could blink, Tara was tugging him by the hand, trying to coax him into following her out to the car. The taiyoukai merely shook his head at the thought that this human girl could not deny that she was the reincarnation of Rin even if she wanted to (not that she knew for sure that she was the reincarnation of anything to begin with, he amended) before doing as she had silently requested and followed them out to the car.

"I got shotgun! I got shotgun!" Clara cheered loudly as she waved her arms above her recklessly.

"You're a midget, so you get the back. I have shotgun." To emphasize his point, Sesshomaru towered over the poor human teen with a cold glare. She shuddered and agreed just to get him to quit looking like that. With no further arguments from anyone, the taiyoukai climbed in the front seat of the little car, cringing at how large of a blow to his manly pride it would be if anyone he knew caught him in a little Volkswagen Beetle with his little brother and four girls. Not that there was any room to actually _do_ anything in _there_ necessarily, but people would definitely never let him live it down. As planned, Clara joined Inuyasha, Kagome, and Tara in the back (Kagome wound up in Inuyasha's lap like Clara had suggested) before Mona revved the engine and sped for Mona's boyfriend's place for the earlier mentioned party.

Kagome yawned and rested her head in the crook of Inuyasha's neck, nuzzling herself closer to him a tad as her eyelids drooped to shade her warm brown eyes from the sun streaming through the car window. The hanyou blushed slightly before lightly placing his arms around her waist and resting his head atop hers, his eyes sweeping over to the car window to look at the pedestrians, lights, streets, and other cars streaking by them like little flashes of sub conscious memories in the human psyche.

Staring out of the car window eventually led to daydreaming, which led to his favorite topic- his girlfriend. From there, thoughts emerged of her in a traditional snow white wedding kimono, her black silky tresses pulled up and away from her face with a simple navy blue ribbon, a matching colored sash tied intricately at her waist. Her kissable lips painted with red rouge as they curved upward in a warm smile whilst she gazed at him in his black wedding kimono, over his heart rests his father's silver crest upon the folds of dark fabric. He could almost feel Kagome's hand within his own as they intertwined, forming a bridge between them, between their two worlds. Kaede standing in her priestess attire, a holy scroll of marital bonding clasped tightly in her wrinkled hands. Her voice is drowned out from Kagome's radiant beauty as she seemingly glows in the light the sun bathes her in. Just as they lean in to seal their vows of bonding with a loving kiss…

"Inuyasha, I think you might want to wake the girl; we're here."

Damn…he was just getting to the good part, too.

Sesshomaru's sudden interruption of his thoughts pulled the younger brother's attention from the window to glare icily at his brother.

"She has a name, so call her by it."

"I will call her by it if I want. Be happy 'girl' is the worst title I have for her." A deep, protective growl was the only response the taiyoukai received as he stepped out of the passenger's seat. Inuyasha's attention returned to Kagome as her eyelashes parted slowly.

"Are we there?" She mumbled, lifting her head from his shoulder to peer at him sleepily.

"Yep…thank god too; I can't feel my legs."

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mean, mister?"

"It means you've managed to completely numb my legs underneath your ass."

"Why, you-!" Her little rant was cut off my Inuyasha deftly leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. Her cheeks flushed a dark red as she pouted cutely.

"You did that just so I wouldn't say it, didn't you?" He brushed his nose against hers playfully before smirking arrogantly.

"It's a strong possibility."

"You're impossible." She rolled her eyes but opened the door and got out of the car nonetheless. Her boyfriend followed suit, glad to finally be able to stretch his legs. Kagome walked in the house after Sesshomaru, eager to have fun and party. Inuyasha, in the other hand, hesitated as he felt himself once again fall into his own subconscious as he watched his girlfriend's form disappear behind the glass door. He had a somewhat dreadful feeling toward the fact that his brother said they needed to talk about his whole not belonging in this time period. It's not like he never felt dread toward his brother- that was a constant- but something in the back of his mind was reminding him of what his brother was capable of in his time, and to consider what he was capable of now. Shaking his head, he walked in the house just as Kagome and the others had before him. He saw Clara, Mona, and Tara talking with two other boys that looked about their age, and also Japanese, unlike the other English stiffs that wandered the London streets. Both boys had black hair and eyes, resembling Clara and Mona almost exactly (minus the fact that their hair was cut shaggy and gelled in place).

"Inuyasha, there you are!" Kagome smiled as she handed him a glass of red punch from the table. He took it, sniffing it as if to check it for poison, before beginning to take hesitant sips, debating on whether or not it tasted good. Kagome, on the other hand, was practically in love with the punch. At first, the hanyou didn't understand why, but a quick look at the –empty- bottle of sake set next to the punch bowl, he got the hint.

"Kagome, I think you should drink that moderately…"

"But…but…whhhyyyyyyy…it'sh shoooooo good! Ya should hav' some more, Inu…"

Oops…she had already had three glasses full. Heh heh heh…

Inuyasha didn't know precisely why, but the way Kagome's cheeks were tainted pink from the alcohol, and the cute, hazy look in her eyes made her look so adorably chibi, almost like a teenage Rin…huh. Her loopy smile made him chuckle at the thought that she'll be having one hell of a hangover in the morning…or whenever the alcohol wore off…either one. Maybe it wasn't too late to save her from complete drunkenness, the hanyou thought, taking the glass from Kagome's slightly unsteady hands and dumping the punch back into the bowl before anyone would notice.

"Kagome, you know you can't hold your liquor for past a drink, maybe a drink and a half if you're on your period. So let's just back away from the punch _very…slowly…_" He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently guided her toward the couch without much coaxing. It seemed like the alcohol was somewhat loosening its hold on her mind (mostly because of her priestess powers, Inuyasha thought), but she was still a staggering fool at any rate. She plopped down on the black couch with a heavy sigh of satisfaction, giggling as she sunk into the cushions deeply.

"You know, you look really hot in that…" The half intoxicated miko mumbled to her boyfriend, her head lolling to her left drunkenly as she did so. Even though she was drunk and most likely just saying that because she had no control over her mouth, it still made him blush. Clara walked over to the couple with one of the boys Inuyasha had noticed on his way in.

"Inuyasha, Kags, meet my best friend, Orochi Katanga. He's brothers with Mona's boyfriend, Nagi, over there." Inuyasha nodded his hello to the male, who responded in like.

Kagome, one the other hand…

"Why hello…I'm his girlfriend…I don't really remember my name right at this very moment…give me a minute..." She tapped a finger to her chin in thought. To save her from further embarrassment, Clara told Orochi that her name was Kagome and explained her slight problem. He seemed to understand, nodding his sympathy to both the drunken miko and to the hanyou before walking away with Clara to rejoin Nagi and Mona. Kagome seemed completely oblivious to their departure, still trying desperately to recall her name. "Kitty…Comb…Cat…no, those aren't right…" She closed her eyes, her finger continuing to tap her chin thoughtfully. Inuyasha simply shook his head with a small smile. She was going to have a really, really, _really_ bad hangover. "I remember! I am Kaggie! Kaggie, Kaggie, Kaggie, Kaggie…"

Gods, he didn't want to be anywhere near her when the alcohol wore off…

Inuyasha was about to take a seat next to her, when a sudden finger tap on his shoulder made him jump slightly. Turning around, the hanyou was greeted by his older half brother's unnervingly calm stare.

"Inuyasha, I need to speak with you. You know what this is about, I'm sure." The business-like tone of his voice made Inuyasha's blood run cold with dread. He knew full well that his presence in this era was an issue, but it was never a problem before…but something in the back of his head told him that it was only a matter of time before something like this came up. So, with one last glance at Kagome –who was by now almost asleep- and a heavy sigh, he followed his brother outside by the car.

For a few long moments, neither one spoke. Neither one made any effort to meet eyes with the other sibling. Neither one was even daring to budge. Finally, Sesshomaru cleared his throat.

"I'm just going to be blunt, Inuyasha; I'm sure that you will not completely understand me otherwise."

"Just because you're from this time, doesn't mean-"

"You're being sent back, Inuyasha."

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I just love writing teasers! It keeps people tuned in and reading my stories until the end! Oh, and the next chapter will be a songfic, but I need you to pick between two songs:

"Hundred" by the Fray

"Fall Away" by the Fray

I know that they're both from the same band, but they're both fitting for the next chapter, so tell me in your reviews! Bye!


	8. Fall Away

Phew…too much tap dancing! (my school is doing a play on Singin' in the Rain) I've had the idea of the chapter in my head, but was just too lazy to get it on the site (and I had to add up the scores for the two songs I had you guys vote over) and the results are in!

"Fall Away" by the Fray: 1 vote and "Hundred" by the Fray: 0 votes

And so, for lack of participation, we have a songfic to "Fall Away" by the Fray. Oh, and big news, people! There's news of a fifth Inuyasha movie set to release in America sometime in Fall of 2007! That's not all that far away, if you think about it! Wahoo!!!

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_"You're being sent back, Inuyasha."_

Time itself seemed to hold its breath, as if the whole world was as taken aback as Inuyasha was at the news. He had to admit, he had wondered how long he would be allowed to be in this era before things got out of hand, and something kept warning him that he wouldn't be welcome in this era for much longer. It seemed like every time the well would let him pass, it seemed to hiccup in the middle of the process, as if to ponder over whether or not he deserved to be with the one girl he actually loved. But he didn't care, because he wasn't leaving and that was all there was to it. Unless Sesshomaru was up to fighting him all the way back to the Higurashi Shrine in Japan and throwing him down the well personally, there was just no way that he was willing leaving Kagome. It was simply out of the question.

"W-what…but, that can't be…it was never a problem before-!"

"It is out of my hands, Inuyasha. This is purely by the will of the Shikon no Tama. Though I cannot say that I am honestly sorry that you will be leaving to your original era, I can vouch for Kagome's sorrow in some manner. Believe me, I am the only one who can at this point." The taiyoukai cut off his brother's rambling long enough to give him the vague explanation that was passed to him through the Tenseiga- his only indirect connection with the afterlife and the gods that resided over it. The news had not exactly surprised him so much as the timing of its arrival. The older sibling knew that his younger brother would be forced to leave this era once he had found out that the hanyou was traveling to this era from the feudal one he had lived through, though he was never exactly sure of when it would actually happen. He watched with mild amusement as his younger brother tried to find a way around this dilemma, though they both knew that there was none.

"There's no way in hell that I'll leave willingly. No one can force me back; not you, not anyone." The hanyou said boldly, squaring his shoulders and standing proudly with an ignorant fire of determination blazing in his eyes. He was making it very clear to every one of the higher powers that he most certainly did not want to leave, though he would have absolutely no say in the matter whether or not he insisted on being stubborn.

"I already told you that it was out of my hands. The deity within the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls agrees that there is too much of a rip in time for you to abuse it so by the use of that enchanted well. So, it is that very same deity, Midoriko that will be sending you back. Unless, you think you can take on the spirit of the priestess who created the jewel along the way." Inuyasha knew that he was running out of arguing points and fast. But his heart still refused to give in so easily. There had to be a way…there had to be…

"There's still the well, in case you forgot. Kagome and I can still stay connected by it-"

"The well's power will disappear from this time, as you and the jewel shards remaining here will. All three of you will fade into your proper place- the feudal era. It is the will of the gods." That was it. That was his last defense, his last and only hope of staying with Kagome. It wasn't that he couldn't live out the five hundred years- he would end up living those years and not appear any older than he was now- but the thought of being without Kagome for that long was almost unbearable. He didn't want to be alone, not in that sense. But here was his brother from the modern era, telling him that his worst fears are being realized before his very eyes. There was only one thing that was evident in the hanyou's demeanor as the determined fire in his eyes died into ashes that spread across the canvases of his irises: defeat.

Inuyasha was at an absolute loss for words. Not an hour ago, he was fantasizing about the day when he and Kagome would get married, when he would be able to finally start the family that he had always dreamed of having, and having that family with Kagome. Those fantasies had blissfully caressed his every thought when they were given the chance, filling his chest with a certain warmth and calm. But now those dreams were crashing down around him, the comforting warmth that had held onto him for as long as he could remember loving Kagome had suddenly turned to a steely cold embrace of reality as his eyes seemingly opened for the first time to the cold truth- that he didn't belong here, that he wouldn't belong here, with Kagome for another five hundred years. He was leaving…he was being forced to leave Kagome behind, and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

_You swear you recall nothing at all_

_That could make you come back down_

_You made up your mind to leave it all behind_

_Now you're forced to fight it out_

"…How long…" Was all that the younger sibling said, lowering his head to cover his pained eyes with his long silver bangs. When Sesshomaru didn't respond, he rephrased his statement, a little louder. "How long do I have…until…" He couldn't finish the thought. Thankfully, he didn't need to.

"You will disappear at midnight, if what the deity told me is true."

"And will she remember…?"

"Anyone that has met you in this era will not forget you unless it is of their own choosing. The gods agreed that making everyone who you met forget you would disrupt the time rip even more, what with having to alter so many memories." A small nod was the only response that that hanyou gave before walking back into the house, not looking up to see where he was going and not really caring.

_You fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

_Now you fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

He walked back to the couch that he had left Kagome on, not entirely surprised that she was sound asleep against the soft cushions. He picked her up bridal style and stood up fully, but didn't move for a few moments, just reveling in her form against his, knowing that after tonight it would be years before he could feel it again. He leaned his head in and brushed the side of his face against hers, the light caress heating his cheeks and enveloping him in the bittersweet warmth that he would grow to miss rather quickly. He sighed and gave a half hearted call that Kagome was having a bad hangover and that he was taking her back to the hotel before walking out of the house with his girlfriend tucked safely away in his arms. The walk seemed agonizingly slow, as he retraced his scent back from Nagi and Orochi's house to Sesshomaru's apartment, and from there to the hotel. The entire time, he was hardly aware of anything but the girl in his arms that he knew he would not see for five hundred years after this damned night. The thought was too painful, so he tried in vain to keep the thought from his mind as he approached the hotel building. Upon stepping up to the door, he felt Kagome shift in his arms, so he looked down at her stirring form as she cracked her eyes open.

"Inuyasha…" She mumbled, managing to lift her head from his chest and force him to set her on her feet. "…You don't have a key to the hotel, remember? I'm the one who's got it." She rummaged sleepily though the contents of her pockets before producing the needed key card and walking with him inside and up the stairs toward their room. Inuyasha could only barely register that he was supposed to follow her through the perturbing thoughts that haunted his frayed nerves. One question that had plagued his thoughts most, the one that had continuously come back only seconds of him pushing it out of his mind was what the hell was supposed to be done in the feudal era so badly that he needed to be sent back for good?

_You left something undone,_

_It's now your rerun_

_It's the one you can't erase_

_You should have made it right_

_So you wouldn't have to fight_

_To put a smile back on your face_

Ah yes, how could he have forgotten? Naraku was still at large, and the sacred jewel still wasn't complete. Kagome had done her part, giving him the whereabouts of all the jewel shards, so now that her duty was fulfilled, he needed to do the same with his. Damn it all, damn it all to hell! He was supposed to finish off Naraku with Kagome at his side, along with their friends! That was how they had planned to end it- together! Couldn't the gods allow him to be happy? Just this once, was it so much to ask, despite what still needed to be accomplished?

_And you fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

_You fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

They entered the room without exchanging a word to each other- Kagome because she was still trying to wake up fully, and Inuyasha because he never wanted midnight to come. The hanyou's frayed nerves were making him gradually grow more and more desperate to emphasize to Kagome how much she meant to him, while he still got the chance. He supposed it was because he never fully appreciated the opportunity of loving Kagome until it was being taken away from him where he wouldn't be able to reach it until the right time. Thoughts of him wandering for five hundred years, lost, alone, desperate, depressed, all drove him to rush his steps over to her spot outside on the balcony where she was admiring the moonlight that now streamed down from the heavens. Hearing his hurried footsteps, she turned to greet him with a bit more energy now that she was almost fully awake.

"Inuyasha, what-" Before she could utter a word, he gathered her in a tight embrace, crushing her frame against his as he dove his nose into her hair. He shut his eyes so that the only thing that he could possibly focus on was her, her aura, her very soul, all of which he would memorize tonight to tide him over for the years to come before he could hold her again. She seemed shocked at first, but returned the embrace welcomingly, letting her eyelids droop once her head was situated comfortably against his chest.

_Something I've done_

_That I can't outrun_

_Something I've done_

_That I can't outrun_

"Kagome…you should know how much I love you without me telling you…right…?" He mumbled uncertainly into her ebony locks. He could tell without looking that her eyes softened at his question, and he also knew without looking that she was beautiful when she did.

"Of course I do, and you should know that I love you just as much." He paused after her reply, trying to emphasize that he would wait as long as he needed to without actually telling her that he was being sent back. He knew that it was wrong of him to keep it from her, but he was selfish; he wanted his last memories of her before he left to be of how happy and loving she was, and how beautiful she looked when she smiled at him, rather than his dreams being filled with her tears and cries of sadness resonating off of the walls of his very soul. He didn't think he could bear it and still maintain his sanity.

_Maybe you should wait_

_Maybe you should run_

_But there's something you've said_

_That can't be undone_

"If something happened, you would wait for me, right?" He continued to mumble softly into her shoulder. Her nod against his chest was all the confirmation he would need. It would be enough to soothe his fears over the passage of time between them, until he could be here with her, like this, and not have to be afraid of being lost in the ages of time that he had not yet lived out. He pulled back only enough to kiss her deeply, to remember what it was like to have her here with him, to have the feeling burned in his mind until the day that he died. His desperation fueled his drive behind the kiss, as he sought to deepen it any way that he could to get his point across to her. They slowly pulled back for a breath, and Kagome took a step out of his embrace to reach down to his hand and grasp it gently.

"I'm going to sleep, Inuyasha…I really don't want to crash when all of the alcohol is out of my system (that, and I want my hangover to be as painless as possible). Goodnight, Inuyasha." She gave him a chaste kiss that seemed to linger longer than it should have before she started making her way back to the hotel room. Just as she got to the door, the hanyou caught her hand and pressed her back to his chest and he leaned down and nuzzled his head into her hair once more.

"…Love you…" He mumbled softly, hardly finding the ability to find his voice to speak. She smiled warmly, though he didn't need to see it to know that she had done so.

"Love you, too…" She mumbled before walking through the doors. This time, Inuyasha didn't stop her. He watched her go, time seeming to hiccup, allowing him to burn the memory of the way that she walks in his mind as the glass door slowly clicked shut behind her.

And then he could feel it. That sudden lightheaded feeling that came from nowhere…that same feeling that he experienced whenever he went through the well, only this time, he knew there was no coming back. He looked down at his body, shocked that he was no longer in his clothes that Ms. Higurashi bought for him, but in his blood red haori and hakama. And that's when the reality of the situation fully settled into his mind. He grew desperate, and he tried to grab the handle of the door and seek Kagome's warmth, one last time. But he knew that he was fading into obscurity, as his brother had put it; he was now but a shadow that was unable to feel anything other than what he had known his whole life. His vision blurred into a haze of colors as he felt himself fade away. But he needed to see her…one last time. He ran through the door, shivering at the though that he was no longer a solid being in this era. There, on the bed, he saw Kagome's comatose form sleeping peacefully on top of the blankets, fully clothed. He hurried over to her side, placing a transparent hand on her cheek. A small smile crept onto the sleeping miko's face, as if she had subconsciously felt his hand against her face.

_And you…fall away…from your past_

_But it's following you…_

_You…fall away…from your past_

_But it's following you_

"…I'll wait, Kagome. I will…" He swore as his world faded into darkness. He knew, somewhere deep in his subconscious, that when he would wake, he would be in the feudal era, and that Kagome would not be the one that he would wake to in the morning. What he didn't see was the single solitary tear that trekked down Kagome's sleeping face as her heart felt him leave. What she didn't know was that several more would follow throughout the night, without her even knowing.

It was some time later, that Kagome awoke, parting her thick, sticky lashes, confused at the moisture that had formed around her eyes and was trailing down her face. As she turned her head slightly, she saw Sesshomaru standing over her, much to her shock and confusion. She was about to scream in fear, but she saw Tara beside him, bearing a sad smile on her face. While Sesshomaru's expression was as unreadable as it was in the feudal era, he wasn't too thrilled for the many more tears that were sure to come when he told this miko of his brother's fate.

"Sesshomaru…Tara…?" She whispered, though remained lying on the bed, ignoring the trails left over from the tears. "Why…why am I crying…?" Neither of the other two in the room seemed to want to respond to her question. "Where's Inuyasha…?" The same response was received to this question as was her first. Tara sat down beside Kagome and placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'll let Sesshomaru explain all of this, because he just told me everything in the car. I'm still trying to get my head around all of this. I'm sorry…" Kagome sat up in anticipation of what Sesshomaru had to say.

"Inuyasha is in the feudal era. He was sent back, as was the jewel shards that were hung around your neck." Kagome gasped, clutching desperately around her neck in search of her bottled jewel shards that she had so carefully guarded, only to find that there were none. No…this couldn't be-! There was no reason-!

"But…the well…?"

"The well was sealed from both ends. It was the way things were meant to be." No…that wasn't true! She loved him…and he loved her! They were supposed to be together! She didn't even know about this before now-! But…he knew. He knew that he was being sent back. He had found out through Sesshomaru. That's why he was acting like he was last night. The pieces all added up now. Though the logic was explainable, it was also deniable. Kagome preferred to do so until she finally broke down into sobs, the only comfort she had to cling to was her friend's shoulder as she stayed to support the miko.

_You fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

_You fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

_You fall away…_

_You fall away…_

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-Pant- -pant- phew… someone please remind me to actually get my thoughts on paper, rather than nearly forget them next time, okay? My head is killing me! Anywho, I swear that THIS IS NOT THE END and that the actual end will be much happier than this, okay? Now, click the button below to review.

I'm warning you- for every reader that reads this chapter and doesn't review on it, another copy of Kikyo will be brought back from hell.


	9. Sesshy has FEELINGS?

Okay, now that we've got the angst out of the way (trust me, that last chapter was as sad as this story gets, okay?) let's move on with some more pointless humor. Special note: Sesshomaru actually shows emotions in this chapter, but he's still generally stoic, with a few slip ups here and there. Enjoy!

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The scent of tears that filled the hotel room was beginning to get to Sesshomaru, so much so that he actually needed to retreat to the hallway. No sooner than when the door was shut behind him, he crinkled his nose to rid his delicate sense of smell of any trace of the dizzyingly salty scent of Kagome's tears that was left behind. Despite how much he would rather be telling her to stop blubbering, but he knew full well that would just make her cry even harder. He groaned inwardly, knowing that he didn't want to be the one to put up with it.

"Thank God she only has to wait a few more days." He vaguely realized that he was thinking out loud, but he didn't really give a damn. His thoughts were cut off as his cell phone went off, the vibrations in his pocket somewhat taking him by surprise, but he pulled out the phone nonetheless. He skillfully flicked his black razor phone open and raised the device to his ear. "Hello?"

"Sessh, it's me." Speak of the devil, the taiyoukai thought ruefully. He began making his way down the stairs and toward his sleek silver Jaguar to better his privacy.

"You're still coming out here on Thursday, right?" He leaned back casually against the side of his car, stuffing his free hand into his pocket as he waited for Tara to come out. When the person on the other line didn't respond at first, Sesshomaru groaned inwardly again. This didn't look so good.

"About that…"

"Don't tell me that you're going to leave me in the middle of London with a girl who's crying uncontrollably. You can't be serious."

"I'm still coming to London, asshole. But I can't make it out until next Friday, unfortunately. My boss won't give me my vacation early, and if I quit, there's no way that I'll be able to get a better job than this and you know it. And who's the one that's crying, anyway? Don't tell me-"

"Honestly, do you want me to answer that?" Sesshomaru cut in sharply. Silence reigned on the other end of the line once again. The taiyoukai gave off a small sigh as he thought about what the other male on the other end of the line had mentioned earlier in the conversation. "So, you'll come no later than next Friday, then?" He said after a moment's silence. He heard what might have been a grunt of confirmation on the other end, but the noise wasn't exactly definable. "Tara's coming now, I have to go." Not really caring whether or not the person acknowledged what he said, Sesshomaru clicked the phone shut and put it back into his pocket as he saw Tara coming through the doors. "Well?" He asked her flatly when she was in front of him. She smiled sadly in response.

"She's taking it really hard. She stopped crying a few moments after you left, but I could still see the pain in her eyes. Poor girl," Tara's gaze drifted, as did her thoughts to Kagome's tear-stained face smiling sadly at her as her friend assured her that she'd still meet up with everyone tomorrow, as they had planned. Tara had to give Kagome credit; she was a rather emotionally stable teenager that was capable of pulling herself together physically at the expense of those around her. That was something that Tara knew that she herself was not capable of doing in such a short amount of time. "So, who were you talking to?" She asked almost dully, still trying desperately to grasp everything that had gone on in the past twenty-four hours. Sesshomaru's rather unusual smirk to her question nearly had her stepping back in shock, considering how usually stoic her boyfriend was.

"Keh, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Before she could retaliate, he opened the driver's door to his Jaguar and got in. She leaned in the open window of the door to peck him on the lips. "So, I'll see you tonight?" She nodded before standing upright as he revved the engine of his car. He drove off from the hotel as she made her way back inside to her room.

---

Damn, the tears were coming back again.

She had tried to pull herself together, oh how she had tried. But just when she would start feeling as good as she was going to feel for a while, she would see something that would remind her of Inuyasha, and she would be back to square one. It was the worst when she had called her mother to ask her to check on the well, only to hear that the well had somehow caved in with earth and rubble filling it to the brim, and a sealing scroll placed firmly on the wooden (and broken) ledge of the well. When she heard this, her tears were on the brink of unstoppable. After another ten minutes of sobbing into her pillow (which, of course, still carried a small bit of Inuyasha's scent,) the first thing that she opened her eyes to (of all things) was the pile of clothes that her mother had bought for Inuyasha to stay here in London with her on vacation.

Needless to say, her face retreated back to her pillow within three seconds.

But now, she was a little better; not much, but better. There were still traces of her tears evident on her slightly flushed face, but her tears had stopped. But it hurt, oh gods, it still hurt just as much. She stood and walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall and simply gazed at her messy reflection. She only vaguely remembered when Inuyasha hugged her from behind the last time she looked into this mirror. At that time, she had felt like the most special and loved person that could have ever existed, she was happy, and her heart had fluttered. She laughed bitterly despite the situation.

"I'm my own character foil," She said aloud in a broken voice that sounded so unlike her, she swore it was someone else talking. But she needed to stop this. She needed to be strong. She was going to be strong for not only herself, but for Inuyasha. Even if he wasn't there physically, she was still connected to him. She could still feel his heart beating in tune with hers. Despite the distance, their hearts were still one.

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Snow days are the best days to update chapters, no? Oh, and about the whole phone conversation that Sesshomaru had with a mystery guy…if you couldn't figure out who he was talking to…then…I don't know what to tell you other than stay tuned for a surprise. If you did figure it out, you get a cookie (and some pocky, but…same thing, I guess) Now click the adorable button below to review! Warning: hilarious content in next chapter, along with some major, MAJOR fluff.


	10. Happy Valentine's Day!

Okay, I seriously apologize for the vagueness of that last chappie. Here's some fluff to compensate for that. Note: There is no actual physical contact between Inu and Kags, but…AH! I SAID TOO MUCH! –covers mouth with duct tape-

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A week…

A whole damn week since Inuyasha was sent back. Kagome found herself stopping to look at a calendar to make sure that it really had only been that long since his departure. It had seemed like an eternity. With a sigh, she turned back to her coffee, hoping to warm up from the sudden chill that the overnight blizzard had brought last night. Around her at the table in Uncommon Grounds were Mona, Clara, and Tara, all of who were aware of Inuyasha's leave (Tara was still the only one who knew why) and had all agreed not to bring it up around Kagome, so they talked about everything that they missed about Japan and asked Kagome if there were any significant differences between the time they were there and now.

"So, do you still go to Wacdnard's with people every now and again?" Clara asked Kagome as she reached for a packet of sweetener set on the side of the table. The said miko shook her head dully as she continued to stare at her cup of warm coffee.

"I still go there, but I'm almost always too busy to go anymore." _'But I'm sure I'll have time now that- NO! I can't think like this…not here…'_ Sensing Kagome's sadness, Tara decided it best to change the subject.

"So, what do you guys think of that hottie working the cash register over there?" Tara jabbed a finger over at the spiky blonde haired guy that was currently taking an order from a couple in line. Kagome's eyes lightened considerably at the topic change.

"Hmm…on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest?" Mona asked as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. Tara nodded eagerly as she grinned. "Then I'd say…three."

"Wow, you're being generous." Tara commented sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "What about you guys? Please tell me that you'll score him higher than a three."

"Sorry, but he's a two in my book." Clara stated dully as she sipped her hot chocolate. "He's got no ass. You need a man with some ass." At this remark, Tara further inspected that the cashier indeed had no ass, which is a highly unattractive quality in some cases. Clara continued, "I mean, I'm not saying that he needs a ghetto booty, but he's gotta have _something_ there."

"Alright, alright we get the point- he's flat. What about you, Kagome?" The miko turned to inspect the cashier thoughtfully for a moment.

"Can we go into negative numbers?"

"Oh come on!" Tara shrieked as her two sisters erupted in laughter along with Kagome. Tara pouted. "You guys are being cruel to the guy. He's totally at least a six." Clara mocked a look of worry as she placed the back of her hand against Tara's forehead, as if to feel for a temperature. Tara quirked an eyebrow in response. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Are you sick, or something?"

"No, I was dropped on my head as a baby." This earned more laughter among the group of friends. They continued to talk about anything they could think of, the conversations lively and fun, and as they talked, Kagome was glad that she could keep her mind from returning to Inuyasha, if only for a little while.

---

Sesshomaru couldn't help but groan inwardly as he watched his brother stare out of the apartment window with a dull look on his face. Yet another sigh escaped the hanyou's lips (for the umpteenth time in the past minute) as he gazed down at the streets of London, his thoughts focused on the only other person that he could think of- his girlfriend…the one he hadn't seen in five hundred years…Kagome. Yet another sigh passed his lips at the very thought of her name.

"Will you stop sighing? It's unbelievably annoying, 'Yasha." His older brother's voice registered in his head, temporarily pulling Inuyasha out of his thoughts as he sat at the window ledge. He peeled his eyes from the window to acknowledge that he had heard what his brother had said.

"Huh- oh, yeah…right." He mumbled as his dim, defeated golden eyes swept back over to the window. In all honesty, things had been somewhat like this for the past four hundred years; the first hundred that he spent waiting to be reunited with Kagome were somewhat the same as when she was there, except if her name happened to come up in conversation…

…or he picked up the smell of wildflowers and thought that it was her…

…or he had a dream about her the night before…

After those first hundred years, the hanyou's morale seemed to steadily decline until he was beyond all saving without Kagome. He'd act tough around his friends and his half brother, make it seem as though he'd wait the five hundred years without a problem, but they all knew better- the reflection in his eyes had dulled to appear as though he was hardly alive (a/n: think of when you can't tell the difference between their pupil and their iris), and he didn't stand nearly as tall and proud as he had when the reincarnated miko was at his side. And after a while, he gave up on trying to convince even himself, letting his defeat radiate off of his aura as though it was the air that he breathed.

Though, Sesshomaru had to admit, for being separated with the one he was going to take as his mate, Inuyasha was handling it about as well as one would expect…minus the slitting of his wrists and suicide attempts like he had seen other youkai try to do like the sorry emos that they were. Emo or not, his younger sibling shouldn't feel like this anymore; after all, he lived out the five hundred years with all of his friends with him (youkai blood transfers do wonders to human life spans) and now he could be with his girlfriend again…

…unless…

"Hey, 'Yasha, I can't help but ask something that's been on my mind." The said hanyou turned his head away from the window in anticipation for what his sibling had to say. "Are you still straight?"

Now where the fuck did that come from?

"…Yeah…you know that, otherwise I'd have moved on from…" He cringed, not wanting to bring up her name too loudly. Sesshomaru grinned. Why not have a bit of fun with this?

"I know you say that you still want to be with her and all, but you haven't had the comforting touch of a woman in five hundred years to the day, so-"

"That doesn't make someone gay, alright? What makes them gay is when they wear pink rouge on their faces to make it look like demon markings and then just up and wash it off for no particular reason other than that people in this era would think it gay, oh, and about the fur that you used to always wear up until about two hundred years ago…" Inuyasha couldn't help but grin in spite of himself. After all, he always won the argument when he brought that up (mainly because Sesshomaru never really had anything to say other than denying that he was gay as an argument). His grin faded rather quickly as he returned his gaze to the window and spotted the hotel that Kagome had stayed before he was sent back, and was most likely still staying there now. His chest throbbed painfully. Why did he have to have such an excellent photographic memory? It wasn't fair!

Remembering the hotel led to remembering Kagome's friends here in London, which, of course, led to remembering Kagome…again. It's not that he didn't want to remember her, but when he thought of her, his thoughts would eventually drift from the good times that they had to when he watched her sleeping, his own fading hand resting on her cheek, as he disappeared from this era to the feudal one. His eyes darkened even more when he remembered his reaction once he awoke in the feudal era, when he scrambled to his feet and subconsciously ran to the well despite remembering what Sesshomaru had told him, jumping down the said wooden structure in a desperate attempt to at least be reassured that he and Kagome were still connected, only to have his heart crushed as his feet came in contact with the dirt floor and he was still very much in the feudal era.

That same day, he had asked Sango and Miroku if they wanted to live to see Kagome again (which, of course they did) before transferring a little of his blood to each of them, thereby extending their lifespan as long as a youkai or hanyou, though not making any changed in appearance or abilities. A few months after that, they had taken on Naraku for the final time, along with Sesshomaru, Rin, Jaken, Koga, Ayame, Ginta, and Hakkaku as their allies. It had been rough but Naraku and every one of his incarnations had been ultimately defeated. But the victory had come at a high price, for Rin had been killed by a lesser demon that had caught her off guard as she sat on the sidelines and had devoured her little body. Sesshomaru had personally seen to it that the demon was…taken care of.

After that, life seemed to go on agonizingly slow…all five hundred years of it. Sango and Miroku had remained mostly unchanged, albeit their choice of clothing (after all, a traditional kimono just wasn't in style for every day life anymore), Kirara was also unfazed by the passage of time, but Shippo now was almost as tall as his adult friends, and now acted much more maturely (except the occasional trick he pulled on Inuyasha to piss him off) and dressed as such, and –thankfully- was able to hide his kitsune tail when he was out in public.

Inuyasha looked somewhat different, and noticeably so. His hair was much shorter than it had been in the feudal era- now the back was only to the middle of his neck, short and somewhat naturally spiky. Two pieces of hair, a little longer than the hair in the back of his head, hung in front of his human ears (which he now sported, thanks to a suppressing charm) and just brushed his upper jaw line. His bangs remained relatively the same in the passage of time, and he considered his haircut particularly unique (if you're having trouble picturing this, think Link's hair from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, only silver). Other than that, and his wardrobe, he remained pretty much unchanged in the past five hundred years.

Now he wondered how Kagome would think of him, seeing him like this. What would she say about his appearance, or his demeanor? How would he react to seeing her again? And what about her- how would she react when she saw him? He had five hundred years to ponder over it and still he could not come up with an adamant answer. Another question that had haunted him even more: would she be mad? Would she be mad at him for not telling her about being sent back to the feudal era when he found out? Gods, he wasn't so sure he'd be able to handle it if she was. Then again, she was always so understanding and willing to listen to him, so if he explained himself, maybe she wouldn't be so mad, if she even was to begin with.

"So, why haven't you called her yet?" Damn it, why does Sesshomaru always manage to break his train of thought?

"I never got her phone number. There was no need for it when we were together, considering that I didn't even know what a phone _was_ back then." He grumbled, cursing himself for being so technically challenged when he was with Kagome for the umpteenth time in gods knew how many years.

"Hmm…do you want to talk to her?"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?"

"Oh…obviously not, then…never mind it then; forget I said anything."

"Sesshomaru…" The hanyou growled, cracking his knuckles at his side dramatically. "If you know Kagome's number…wait…_what the hell are you doing with her number?_" He demanded, obviously still as –if not even more- overprotective of his girlfriend as he was five hundred years ago. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at his younger sibling's stupidity.

"I don't have _her_ number. I have Tara's, who just so happens to be with Kagome at this very moment, though I don't know where; Tara never specified." For a split second, Inuyasha's eyes seemed to light up at the thought of hearing the voice that had haunted his every thought speak to him again, before they dimmed down again.

"Will you call Tara's cell then? If Kagome's with her, then she can talk on Tara's phone, and-"

"I'm two steps ahead of you –like always-" He said as he called Tara's cell from his contacts list. Inuyasha was so ecstatic, he was almost willing to overlook the comment his older brother made…_almost_.

---

"Ack…I swear, this cell phone is ringing like crazy today…honestly!" Tara sighed as she flicked her flip phone open and held it to her ear. "Hello, Tara here."

"Tara, Kagome's with you, right?"

"Sesshy! Er, yeah, she's here with me, why do you ask?" She inquired, genuinely confused as to why her boyfriend was asking about her best friend and not her (she wasn't jealous…she swears it).

"Someone important wants to talk to her, so put her on the phone."

"Err…okay, hold on a sec…" She placed her free hand on the speaker of the phone and turned to her friend. "Kags, someone wants to talk to you." The reincarnated miko's thin brows furrowed in confusion.

"Then why did they call your phone?" Tara shrugged, handing her friend the phone. Kagome blinked at it, but held it to her ear nonetheless. "Hello?"

"Kagome, it's Sesshomaru speaking."

"Oh…Sesshomaru…" Wow, didn't that make the phone conversation a tad awkward?

"Listen, there's someone at my apartment who feels he needs to talk to you, so I'm just going to hand him the phone." He said in a bored voice. Before Kagome could even reply, there was a sort of shuffling noise on the other end as the other person seemed to be handed the phone.

"Hello?" Kagome said after a few more moments of silence.

"Kagome?" She gasped in shock…that voice…she could have sworn that it sounded just like…

"Wh-Who is this…?" She whispered, not daring to believe that it was really him.

---

At first, he felt a sharp pain in his chest when she didn't recognize his voice, but then remembered that she had never held a phone conversation with him, and he was sure his voice sounded sort of different over the phone, so it was kind of understandable.

"Kagome…it's me…I-"

"Inuyasha…?" She cut him off in an incredulous whisper. He breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized him, the weight on his heart lifting with ease, letting him breathe again. The tension in his shoulders ebbed away as he leaned his back against the wall behind him.

"Thank the gods, Kagome…" He slid down the wall into a sitting position, closing his eyes in pure relief. "I really missed you, ya know." He mumbled into the speaker, though they both knew that it was an understatement. He heard what might have been either a laugh or a sob come from the other end of the line.

"I missed you, too…but at least I didn't have to wait that long…you did…didn't you…?" He smiled in spite of himself, cracking his eyes open a little as he watched the sun set over the horizon, taking with it his fears and worries. He and Kagome were together again, and that was all that mattered.

"Yeah, but it was worth it." Kagome laughed lightly on the other end of the line. Her laughter was that of a songbird; always so joyful and bright. Inuyasha found that he couldn't feel depressed as long as he heard her laugh, saw her smile.

"It's really good hearing from you. Where are you now?" Inuyasha smiled softly at her question, vaguely wondering what her reaction would be when she found out that they were within walking distance of each other.

"I'm at Sesshomaru's apartment in London. I flew in from Tokyo."

"You're here? That's wonderful!" He loved making her happy, hearing her smile just through her voice, not needing to see it to know that it was there. It made his spirit soar.

"Will you keep talking…just a little longer…? I just want to hear your voice again…I really like hearing it, you know." He didn't have to be able to see her face to knew that she was wearing a soft smile on her lips, and he didn't need to look at her to know that she was beautiful.

"When can I see you again? I still have the clothes mom bought you." He grinned at the memory, no longer a burden on his heart, but a fond reminder of what he was coming back to- he was coming back into Kagome's life, picking up their relationship where they left it off.

"Can we meet tomorrow? In front of Uncommon Grounds?" He mumbled, his eyes softening as he recalled when she got him to try iced coffee (which was another addiction of his, other than ramen and his girlfriend). If he had his way, he would have just sought her out right now, but he didn't want to pry her away from her friends…not now. That, and he was suffering from serious jet lag right now, despite his hanyou blood.

"Of course we can…I really want to see you."

"Ditto…can we meet there at noon…? I swear I won't be late." He whimpered, and he swore that she could see his puppy dog face even through the phone connection.

"That's fine with me…oh…" Inuyasha frowned as he heard the disappointment in Kagome's voice. Had something happened?

"What is it…?" He tensed and prepared for the worst.

"Tara's phone only has one bar of battery left, so she told me to hang it up. But we'll meet at Uncommon Grounds at noon tomorrow, right?" He relaxed, understanding why she had to hang up the phone. He grinned at her question, especially when they both knew the answer to it.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied sincerely, knowing that she knew he meant every word.

"Bye, Inuyasha. I love you."

"I love you, too. Oh, and Kagome-!" He prayed that he caught her before she hung up the phone. Thankfully, he did.

"Yeah?" He smiled softly into the speaker.

"Happy Valentine's Day." He said before he hung up the phone and handed it back to Sesshomaru. He glanced at the clock. 5:34 pm.

Sixteen hours, twenty-six minutes.

He couldn't wait.

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I hope everyone enjoys the chapter! (I'm sorry for not having them meet up physically, but I thought it would be sweet to have them talk over the phone before they saw each other in person.


	11. At long last

THAT'S IT! I'm NEVER having four stories running at one time! It's so damn frustrating!!! GYAAAAA!

…here's the next chappie. (Warning: if you're not a fan of uber fluff, read elsewhere)

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Kagome huffed as she gazed irritably at her reflection for the umpteenth time that morning. Honestly, she knew that no matter how many times she stared at her reflection, her hair wasn't going to fix itself, especially not with the knots and wild curls that she had managed to obtain in her restless sleep the previous night. With a groan of aggravation, she flopped back onto her bed and stole a quick look at the clock. It was only eight thirty in the morning, so she had about two and a half more hours before she had to leave if she wanted to be on time to meet up with Inuyasha.

Her expression softened at the thought of her boyfriend. The poor guy has been waiting around for her for five centuries, while she sat here for a week crying and moping around. She felt guilty for being so moody when she compared how long she had waited to how long he has waited, knowing that he most likely didn't allow himself to cry or show his feelings. That, and Sango and Miroku most likely died years ago, so he was basically alone, where she had her friends…

She sat up, trying to push those thoughts aside for the moment. Once they met up, she'd be able to talk about it, so there was no point in jumping to conclusions about things again (kamis knew how many times it hurt her) and it wouldn't be fair to Inuyasha if she did that. Therefore, she returned her attention to getting ready for her meeting with Inuyasha. The very thought of seeing him again made her stomach flutter with happiness that she hadn't felt since the last time he held her, kissed her, talked to her even. With newfound energy and cheerfulness, she pulled out her brush and began to gingerly stroke her thick and messy tresses. After a few minutes of wrestling with the knots and tangles in her hair, she finally set the brush down, content with her now fluffy and shiny head of hair. She giggled as she did a little spin to observe her look, happy that her hip hugger jeans and her navy blue cap sleeved t-shirt hugged her every curve and displayed her figure nicely, and she liked how the top's front came down in a 'v' to show a little cleavage. Not too much, but enough to show a bit of her white cami underneath. Her favorite locket hung from her neck and rested on her collar bone comfortably, as it always had. Satisfied with the result, she grabbed her sneakers and walked out the door, eager to see Inuyasha again.

---

"Inuyasha, if you keep asking me how you look, I start calling you a girl…or gay, your choice." Sesshomaru called through the door as his brother frantically tried finding the right outfit for his date, though his options were rather limited, considering he only had about four shirts and pants in his bag that he had brought from Tokyo. He growled at Sesshomaru's comment under his breath as he continued digging through the small pile of clothes.

"Will you shut up? It's not my fault that I care about how Kagome thinks I'll look!" He pulled out a red t-shirt, about to put it on, but deciding against it. "Don't want her thinking that's the only color I own." He groaned and began pacing the guest bedroom in nothing but his favorite faded jeans that had a few rips on the legs and knees (stop drooling, fangirls) as he tried deciding which shirt he should wear (hey, what's a guy to do in situations like these?) before giving off another exasperated groan and resting his forehead against the wall. "Man, if I look stupid, she'll think that I haven't learned a thing in five centuries…or worse, she'll think I can't take care of myself! I haven't seen her in five hundred years, and I want to show her how much I've changed, not how moronic I can be!" He mumbled to himself, unaware that his brother could hear every word of it.

"You know, it may just be me thinking unrealistically, but she misses you, so don't you think that her top priority would be to see you and talk to you, and not judge you on your appearance?"

You know, Inuyasha really, really, _really_ hated it when Sesshomaru was right.

"…Hush up, will ya? I gotta get ready." Finally deciding on a long sleeved black button up shirt (that he left open) with a short sleeved white shirt underneath it and throwing them on, he continued to the bathroom and attempted to rid himself of his bed head 'I-just-got-some' hair do that he so frequently got now that he had short and somewhat spiky hair in the back. After a ten minute struggle with his messy abundance of hair, he finally gave up and just matted down the back somewhat with his hand before grabbing a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste he brought with him to brush his teeth. Finally satisfied with the ending result of all of his efforts, he exited the bathroom and glanced at the clock, which kindly informed him that if he didn't leave now, he'd be late. "I'm going, so…yeah…later." He half-heartedly called to his brother, not really caring whether or not he was heard, but more or less ecstatic at the thought of seeing Kagome again.

---

She had to admit, she wasn't entirely shocked that she was the first one here.

After all, she _had_ shown up ten minutes early, so it wasn't like she expected him to be there right when she was, but it would have been a nice thing to see first thing in the afternoon, right? She sighed as she leaned against the wall outside of Uncommon Grounds, her arms linked behind her as she regarded at her sneakers thoughtfully. Her mind was swimming with questions that she wanted to ask Inuyasha once he came, so many in fact, that she was having a hard time keeping count of how many, and in what order she should ask him.

She wrinkled her nose as she looked up at Big Ben to check the time, somewhat surprised that it was already 11:58. He promised that he wouldn't be late…he promised…but she wasn't upset over it. If he was late by a few minutes, it was definitely not the end of the world. It might have been selfish, but…she wanted to see him again…she missed him so much…

She knew it; she was being selfish and impatient. After all, he waited five hundred years, and most likely not getting so worked up over a few measly minutes. Minutes meant nothing to him, probably not days, but years, centuries, he would have known them. After all, he managed to fly to London from Tokyo at almost the exact time that he had disappeared when he was five hundred years younger, a symbol of his dedication and love for her that made her heart swell with happiness, just knowing that he waited for her and that in the end they would be together again, that was enough. That was more than enough.

---

11:59.

She was just as beautiful as the last time he saw her.

Finally, after centuries of wandering Japan, empty inside, carrying a void in his heart because he was so alone in ways that his friends couldn't help him with, hurting in ways his friends didn't know _how_ to help with, she was finally a mere half a block away from him. There, in the midst of a faceless crowd, was the one radiant beam of light that beaconed him, the lost warrior coming home at last after years of emotional turmoil and war, could finally rest his weary mind and heart knowing that she was there for him again, and in more that spirit or through dreams.

He started walking toward her again, not entirely sure of when he stopped or why, but all thoughts left him as he watched her gaze thoughtfully, almost wistfully, at one of Big Ben's faces, most likely to check the time. His footsteps quickened, almost to the pace of a human jogging, before he screeched to a halt a few yards away from her.

"Kagome-!" He called softly, not loud enough to be considered a yell, but just enough that she heard him. Her head whipped toward the sound of his voice, her eyes widened as he slowly approached her, though his soul cried out for her touch, her kiss. "Kagome…?" He stopped before her, bringing a clawed hand up to wipe away a single tear that had managed to trail down only to her cheekbone. Her body began to lightly tremble at the sobs of relief and happiness that threatened to escape her, though she kept them in, knowing that he couldn't stand to see her cry.

"Inuyasha…it's…it's you!" She stepped into his chest, embracing him wholly, happily. His arms didn't hesitate to wrap around her waist, his fists clutching fistfuls of the back of her shirt in desperation as he crushed her to his chest.

"Kagome…" He whispered into her shoulder, allowing himself a single tear of relief to trek down his cheek. He smiled against her shoulder, shifting his head to rest his cheek against her neck, his smile never once so much as faltering. "You don't know how long I've waited for this…" He lifted her by the waist and spun her around, not caring about the people passing by them, only focusing on the girl in his arms, the arms that had ached to hold her for five centuries. She giggled as she snuggled into his chest more once he set her down.

"Five hundred years, eight days, eleven hours, fifty-nine minutes, and forty-five seconds."

"Smartass." He huffed before kissing her, desperate to feel her against him, with him again after so many years. He felt her filling his emptiness with completion, with love. She was unknowingly filling in all the holes in his heart that the passage of time had done to him, her love and kindness was shunning away all the darkness in his eyes that refused to allow their irises to shine as they had before she was torn from his side, and he loved the feeling of it all, like he finally found his way home again after so many trials of searching and hoping. Now they were together, and she was saving him from his inner turmoil, his pain, though he vaguely realized that she had been doing that ever since they met.

His foot stumbled forward against hers, causing him to accidentally press her against the wall of the coffee shop as he detached one arm from her waist to begin tenderly stroking her cheek. They could feel their heartbeats connecting, seeming to beat in unison, rejoicing at their reunion once more. The kiss deepened as Inuyasha pushed his tongue against the inside of her bottom lip, to which she gladly let him in. She let one hand drift up to his short hair and begin to tangle her fingers through the short strands of silver she loved so much…only they weren't as long as the last time she had seen him (but she thought it just made him look hotter). Inuyasha hesitantly broke the kiss, trailing smaller kisses down her neck. "I missed you so much." He pulled away from his ministrations to rest his forehead against hers, embracing her with both arms once again. His eyes told the story of all of his trials, his pain, sorrow, but mostly, his love. However, now they shimmered like they always did, unlike when she first saw him when he called to her. She smiled sadly at him before bringing her hand up to rest on his cheek.

"I would say that I missed you, too, but I don't have much of a right to say that in comparison to how long you waited." Her eyes softened as the sadness left her smile. "But I can say that I love you, right?" She tightened her arm around his waist. He grinned softly at her, the pain quickly leaving both his eyes and his heart, just by looking onto her hazel orbs, drowning in their warmth, their comfort. He rubbed his nose against hers tenderly, both shivering pleasantly by the contact.

"With as long as I've been away from you, that's all I need to hear right now…and right now, all I can even think to say is that I love you, too." He said softly to her before bring his head closer to hers for another kiss.

The coffee could wait a few more minutes, because right now, all they needed was each other, and their love, to comfort them.

As the clock chimed for twelve o' clock sharp.

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-Phew!- There you have it, but if you don't want this to be the end, speak now or forever hold your peace. Click the little purplish-blue button below to submit a review, pretty please!


	12. The Nosebleed Marathon

At long last! The epilogue of the story!!! I must admit, I was putting this one off because it would mean the end of one of my favorite stories to write in the Inuyasha based fan fiction. But, I _do_, however, have a special sneak peek at an Inuyasha story that I am writing and –hopefully- posting sometime soon. But that won't be until the _end_ of this chapter!

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In the week and a half that the couple spent in London after they were reunited by the fates, Inuyasha and Kagome often found themselves wrapped in the soothing embrace of bliss, wandering aimlessly down the streets during the day with Kagome's friends, reminiscing the hours away with talk of their past together, and their nights at Sesshomaru's apartment in each other's arms. Kagome was, of course, invited welcomingly to stay with Inuyasha in the guest bedroom to save a week and a half's worth of hotel bills (that, and Inuyasha would simply refuse to allow his girlfriend to be so far out of reach when it wasn't absolutely necessary). Before they even knew it, the night before they had to board the plane home was upon them.

"I can't believe it," Kagome mused as she stood before the window, her gaze distantly soft, as her eyes swept over London's bustling and dark streets with a wistful smile on her face. "It hasn't seemed like a whole three weeks just yet. At least, not to me it hasn't," she giggled quietly under her breath as Inuyasha came up behind her and caught her in his arms tenderly. Her laughter bubbled in her throat as he trailed kisses up her neck. "What about you?" She finally managed to say between her small fits of gentle laughter.

"Honestly?" he whispered from somewhere near her jaw line. She nodded her head in silent encouragement to answer her question. He obliged after a moment of silence, "it's been…an eternity, Kagome, because to me, this vacation has been on hold for five hundred years." Tears started to mist over in Kagome's eyes as she thought about how lonely he must have been. Though he might not have been aware of it, he had woken her twice unintentionally in the middle of the night whimpering, saying he didn't want to leave, cringing as he called out her name softly in his sleep. She never woke him either time it happened, only stroked his short locks of silver hair and whispered soothing words into his drooping dog ears.

"I'm so sorry, Inuyasha," she turned in his arms and pressed her face into the junction between his neck and shoulder before returning his embrace. The hanyou snorted in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Keh, my wait's been over for a week and a half, so you shouldn't be apologizing, alright?" He half grunted, falling into his usual arrogant façade perfectly on a dime. She made a sound that might have been a mix between a laugh and a quiet sob.

"You're right…" she whispered unconvincingly into his collar bone. He hooked a clawed finger under her chin to lift her head just enough for him to kiss her forehead lightly, whatever comfort he had hoped that it might have given her.

"Those days are behind me, now that we're like this again, so just…smile, okay? You're prettier when you do, y'know," he gave her his signature fanged smirk as he tightened his hold on her, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze through the magenta flannel pajamas she was wearing. She looked up at him and smiled fully before looking back down at his torso.

"…you need a shirt, mister," she poked his chest, earning a chuckle from him. He pulled out his signature puppy dog face that was fast turning into a pout. Hell, he even added a quivering lip as a bonus.

"But you think my abs are sexy, don't you?"

"……just put on a shirt. We need to get to bed if we're gonna catch the plane on time." He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest indignantly.

"I'm still not putting on a shirt," as if to prove his point, he stuck his nose up in the air as a sign of arrogance.

"And why not?" He grinned at her question before leaning in and whispering seductively in her ear, "because you're just too damn _cute_ when you blush," the miko in his arms huffed but did nothing to argue as he led her to the bed, where they cuddled close to each other as they slept.

---

"_10:00 flight from London to Tokyo will be leaving shortly. Please secure all luggage before fastening your seatbelts. Thank you for flying Yamaguchi Airlines today."_

"Y'know, I always did think that the chick on the intercom was some sort of robot or an alien or something," Inuyasha grumbled as he and his girlfriend situated themselves in the plane seats next to each other. Kagome merely shook her head in response. "What? She has to be! It's the only explanation for how totally void of emotion her voice is! Unless she's some sort of demon temptress, then it makes even more sense." That particular statement caught Kagome's attention.

"And just _how_ would you know _anything_ about demon temptresses, Inuyasha?" She asked, barely withholding the sharp edge in her voice. Despite her efforts, he still caught it, and inwardly cringed under her wrath. Knowing that she was taking this the wrong way, he was quick to respond,

"Let's just say that my brother never had to worry about…sexual frustration…before he met Tara; I'd never get any sleep whenever I was in the same building as him and some random demon temptress he brought to his bed…thankfully, I wasn't in that rather…_perturbing_ predicament very often," (Ooooh, big words!) he couldn't help but chuckle as Kagome started forming the image in her mind. The chuckle developed into a laugh when she visibly shuddered at the thought.

"…Forget I asked," she muttered lamely as they felt the plane begin its take-off. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her the opportunity to lean on him (which she used to its full potential). She was fast asleep nestled in the crook of his arm within the hour, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Resting his head against hers, he followed her into slumber, where he found he was having the most pleasant dreams of a certain girl at his side…

Zzz………

"Umm…Inuyasha," about an hour and a half later, the hanyou popped one eye open at the sound of Kagome's voice. He gave a grunt of disappointment (hey, a man's dreams are definitely NOT to be disturbed in such situations!) before he sat up fully, not entirely sure when he had sagged into his seat.

"Yeah…? Wha' is it, 'Gome…?" He muttered, his voice still lethargic from the unusually deep sleep he had been so suddenly awoken from. The miko blushed a pretty shade of pink as she let her eyes drift to the certain area of his anatomy for a glance before giving off a small 'eep' and returning her gaze to his groggy eyes.

"…Were you having some sort of dream or something…?" He blinked in surprise at her question a moment; just how did she know that he was having a dream? In fact, he was having a rather…risqué (albeit pleasant) dream about a certain girl sitting next to him. He nodded and voiced his confusion rather gruffly before watching with visible amusement as his girlfriend began stuttering and mumbling nonsense that even his sharp hearing couldn't quite pick up until he hardly heard her question of, "what did you dream about?"

…he was definitely NOT crossing that particular line.

In all honesty, he dreamt that Kagome had been in his apartment back in Tokyo, clearly sometime after they had gotten off of the plane. She had walked out of the bathroom wearing red silk lingerie that would have made the Vierra from Final Fantasy XII blush in modesty (basically, it would have made a Playboy bunny look decently covered) and had strode…or rather…_sauntered_ over to him and (in a rather seductive voice, mind you) asked for his "humble opinion…"

…and now that he thought about it, his "humble opinion" was still straining against his jeans…

…oh…

…shit…

"I-uh-that is…ah, I have to go to the bathroom-!" Not waiting for her to respond, he nearly let her flop sideways as he stood and practically flew to the bathroom…or at least…the line to get into the bathroom. He was quickly finding out the hard way (pun intended) that having a tent in the middle of an aisle on an airplane was a rather painful and embarrassing experience. _'Who…would have thought…that the air pressure…would make things worse…?' _

(Ten minutes later…)

"So, did you get that taken care of…?"

"…Shut up; this was all your fault to begin with."

"_10:00 flight from London to Tokyo has now landed. Please make sure you have all of you luggage before you exit the plane, and thank you for flying Yamaguchi Airlines."_ Kagome looked up at the intercom in surprise, "already? It hasn't seemed like that long," shrugging, she and Inuyasha both grabbed their respective bags and made their way to the exit of the plane amidst the stream of fellow passengers. After a few moments, they had managed to make their way to the parking lot of the airport, where they had to (unfortunately) part ways until they got home.

"Well, this is it," Inuyasha tossed his bag in the trunk of his black Ford Fusion before slamming the trunk door shut. He chuckled under his breath as Kagome stared wide-eyed at his precious baby (NEVER mess with a man's car!)

"This is your car? Wow!" Kagome bent to inspect it in awe. "It looks totally awesome! This was the kind of car a friend of mine was looking at!" Her boyfriend merely continued to laugh at her unbelievable level of excitement over a car…not many chicks do that, but that's just another thing he needed to add to his growing list of things that made Kagome so unique. He leaned his backside against the side of his car casually as he began to search his back pockets, then his front ones.

"Here," he rummaged around some more in his pockets a moment before pulling out a scrap piece of paper and a pen. Using the palm of his hand, he jotted down his cell number, home number, and his e-mail address before pressing it into her palms firmly, though still clenched her hands within his own, "call me the second you get home," he kissed her forehead lightly. He pulled back to study her face for a few moments before he smiled and walked to the front seat of his car. "I'll be seeing you, Kags!" He gave a small wave before he climbed into his car. _'Kags…?'_ She thought, trying the sound of the new nickname, and finding that she rather liked it…she liked it a lot! The engine of his car purred under the hood as he drove off toward his apartment and hour and a half away.

With a soft giggle from behind her hand and a fast spreading warmth in her chest, Kagome turned and walked toward her mother, who was standing in front of her own car a few yards away. With a welcoming hug between the two young women and the storing of Kagome's bag safely in the trunk, Kagome got in the passenger's seat as her mother started the car. And as Kagome rested the back of her head against the seat and closed her eyes, happy to be coming home. Just as she reflected on her vacation, she clutched Inuyasha's number close to her heart and smiled fondly. Yeah, this was definitely one for the record.

---

Upon entering the archway guarding the Higurashi Shrine, the two young women of the family were welcomed happily by Jii-chan, Sota, and Buyo (who was being smothered in Sota's arms as usual. Poor cat.) With many smiles and hugs all around, the five of them went back into the house, where Kagome was pressed for every detail about her trip. Of course, not one to break a promise, she had said she would tell them after she used the phone. However, as she made her way to the said communication device, she once again noticed that glint in her mother's eyes, that flicker of concealed knowledge that she either couldn't or didn't want to share with anyone else. She had only seen that look from her mother before she had left to go to London, and now, seeing it once again, the younger woman was NOT about to take any chances at being surprised.

"Okay, you're giving me the 'I-know-something-you-don't' look, Mama. Spill it," Kagome said simply. However, her mother fervently insisted that she had absolutely nothing to hide, no matter how hard Kagome pressed the issue. So, with a roll of her eyes, she picked up the telephone as she dialed what Inuyasha had written as his home phone number and held the receiver to her ear.

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

"_Hey, you've reached Inuyasha Takahashi. I don't have time to answer the phone for whatever reason, so just leave a message and I'll try calling you back. Later,"_

BEEP!

"Inuyasha, it's Kagome. You told me to call you when I got home, so…I did! I'll talk to you later, alright? Love you, bye!" Satisfied with her message, she hung up the phone and walked into the living room, where she began to recount all of the events that had occurred while she was on vacation. Of course, she was constantly interrupted (mostly by Jii-san) about certain events, mainly involving Inuyasha and why the well was sealed up and nearly destroyed. So, after another ten minutes of painstaking descriptions (ALL of which were demanded in high detail) she was asked by her mother to go out and retrieve the mail from the mailbox at the base of the shrine.

Thankful for the excuse to leave --though still suspicious of her mother's all-knowing gaze-- she walked outside and made her way down the shrine steps toward the mailbox on the edge of the sidewalk. As she turned to open the black top of the said box, a sudden thought struck her- it was Sunday! There's no mail in Sundays! She slowly shut the box again with a thoughtful glare. _Now_ she knew her mother was up to something… go ahead and call her paranoid if you like, but she could _feel_ it!

And the sudden hands over her eyes definitely confirmed that.

"Guess who-"

"AIIIIEEEEEE!" Not registering who the voice behind her belonged to until it was too late, Kagome instinctively jabbed her elbow sharply in the general area of what she had assumed –correctly- was the person's face.

"OWW! Dammit, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha whined and covered his nose with his hands.

"Oh, Inuyasha I'm so sorry! You just scared me, that's all!" Kagome apologized profusely as she pulled out a handkerchief to offer him.

"You gave me a damn _nosebleed_, Kagome! That was uncalled for!" The hanyou huffed, but took the offered cloth to dab away the blood.

"No, you've had that nosebleed since you saw her in those tight clothes," another, oddly familiar male voice chimed from behind them.

"Seriously, Inuyasha, no one's fooled," another, female voice added.

"Yeah, no kidding," another male, albeit youthful voice chipped in afterwards. Kagome let out a gasp. _'Those voices…it can't be-!'_ Inuyasha, now finished with the task of wiping the blood from his nose, huffed and turned around.

"Will you three knock it off? Sheesh! And Miroku, since when have you had any room to talk with nosebleeds? Last one you had made you pass out from blood loss!" The –now profusely blushing- hanyou retorted, jabbing a finger accusingly at the houshi.

"Miroku…? That means that…Sango, Shippo-!" Kagome exclaimed as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Mew!" A sudden whimper called from by her feet.

"Oh, Kirara, I'd never forget about you!" The miko exclaimed as she scooped the two-tailed cat into her arms for a hug. Kirara gave a happy 'mew' in response and licked Kagome's tear away before she nuzzled the miko's cheek affectionately, purring softly all the while.

"Okasan!" Shippo cried as his teenage self was launched at the miko, catching her in a crushing hug. Kagome returned the gesture with one arm, supporting Kirara with the other.

"It's so good to see you again, Kagome!" Sango joined the hug, happy to see her sister figure again after so long.

"Ah, hello there, my younger adopted sister!" Miroku kid as he found the only opening left in the group hug –that excluded Inuyasha of course- and gleefully took it.

"Oh it's so good to see all of you again!" Kagome exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hey, do you people mind letting my _girlfriend_ breathe?" Inuyasha suddenly growled, though it was with good humor, despite his efforts. With a round of nods from everyone in the group, the pretty miko was released and Kirara hopped from Kagome's arms to Sango's. "Hey! Kags, aren't you forgetting someone?" The hanyou whined when he didn't get a hug from her. She just laughed and shook her head before her breath was knocked out of her lungs when Inuyasha stepped forward and hugged her hard to his frame. Once the air returned to her, she gladly returned his embrace…

…then she felt his hand go lower…

…and lower…

"INUYASHA YOU PERV!" Despite being her boyfriend, he still was NOT allowed to touch there until she gave him permission. He quickly withdrew his hand after the quick squeeze he was caught with and he returned his hand to the small of her back.

"Not my fault, five hundred years with Miroku has definitely taken its toll on me, Kagome," the hanyou said calmly as he tightened his hold on her.

"Hey, Inuyasha, two nosebleeds from the same girl, and both within five minutes of each other. That's a record for both of us, man!" Miroku cheered as he clapped the hanyou on the back in congrats. Kagome merely shook her head and detached from his waist to offer him the handkerchief again, which he gratefully took to clean his nose once again.

"Speaking of Miroku, how are you guys coming along with children, Sango…?" Miroku seemed more than happy to answer the question, despite his wife's sudden modesty.

"Why, we've had-OOF-!" His sentence was cut off as Sango jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. As a streak of tears pooled out of one of his eyes, Sango muttered a lame response of, "we've been doing fine."

This particular response made Kagome's curiosity begin to grow. "No, seriously, how many kids have you guys had?" Sango began to blush a dark shade of red at the thought.

"Well, ah…" Sango hesitated

"That many?" Kagome prodded.

"…Forty-one."

"…"

"…"

"_That_ busy, huh?"

Everyone couldn't help but erupted into laughter at her comment.

Once everyone regained their composure from laughing so hard, Shippo piped up cheerfully, "well, I'm not really complaining; I made good yen off of them for babysitting!" Kagome giggled at the thought.

"You've certainly grown, Shippo," she noted, patting him on the head. Inuyasha snorted from beside her.

"If only he'd matured as much," he grumbled earning a chuckle from everyone else. His last comment brought another question to Kagome's mind as she reflected on how she used to respond to Inuyasha picking on Shippo.

"Hey, does 'sit' still subjugate-"

WHAM!

"…Yeah, we didn't have anyone else who could remove the beads," Miroku laughed as a bead of sweat ran down the side of everyone's face.

"Oh my gosh! That was solid cement! Inuyasha, I'm so sorry!" Kagome knelt beside him and stroked his short hair before he forced it up again.

"Ohh…my head…" the poor hanyou muttered as he sat up under his knees.

"Here," finding the beads under his grey shirt, she lifted them over his head and tucked them securely in her pocket. When she saw Inuyasha's bewildered stare, she laughed, "I can trust you, silly! I just didn't know that they were still active!" He nodded, but then whimpered in pain.

"…My head still hurts…" he muttered as his ears flattened against his skull. His girlfriend leaned over and gave him a quick kiss in an attempt to offer him comfort.

"Better?" She asked in a sweet voice. He smiled as innocently as he possibly could when he was already thinking up a dirty scheme.

"It still kind of hurts. Can you give me another one?"

"…"

"…"

"…No," she replied flatly as she stood. He followed suit, though definitely NOT happy at the response he received.

"Whoa…Miroku really WAS a bad influence on him!" Shippo exclaimed, earning a nod of agreement from Kirara. Sango placed a thumb under her chin in thought. "How come we never noticed before?" Miroku sighed, about to answer, before Shippo beat him to it.

"Because, unlike Miroku, Inuyasha saved it all up for Kagome!" Inuyasha nodded in agreement, but then interjected with a point of his own, "He wasn't holding out too much from Sango, seeing as how they managed to have over forty children."

"You know, he's got a point, Sango."

"Yeah, I saved it all for you once I had proposed!"

"That's true, but only because I didn't _let_ you give any to other women." Deciding that they had discussed that topic enough, she changed the subject, "Anyway, Kagome, we have a _lot_ of catching up to do, especially with all the embarrassing things Inuyasha's done!" The said hanyou paled considerably at the notion.

"You can't prove any of it!" He shouted lamely as he crossed his arms over his chest. Shippo grinned rather darkly in response.

"We have photographic evidence!" Sango laughed. "He's right! Let's go inside, so we can show you!"

"WHAT? You can't-!" He spun around to intercept, and his hand –accidentally- brushed up against Kagome's chest, for which he had to whip around and clutch her handkerchief to his nose –sigh- again.

"Hey, now's our chance, c'mon!" Miroku cried as the five of them ditched the hanyou to race up the steps.

"HEY! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Inuyasha whined but leapt up the steps nonetheless in an effort to keep his manly pride in tact. Hopefully, if he was quick enough, he would be able to get there before-

"…And this one's of Inuyasha back in the 70s."

"Whoa, he looks so weird in an afro and parachute pants! Was this at a disco party?"

…Okay. Now they're dead.

Just as he started to threaten them with their lives for showing Kagome those embarrassing pictures, he accidentally knocked into Kagome just as she turned to face him, so inevitably, they crashed to the floor, with her under him. Because he was taken off guard, he was lying fully on her, unintentionally kissing her, but ultimately using the opportunity to its full potential. He moved his arm, brushing her chest accidentally with his hand. He had to –unfortunately- break the kiss and dive for the handkerchief for a third time, for which, of course, Miroku had to comment,

"Yeah, I know you're a hanyou and all, but shouldn't you be worried about all the blood you're losing…?"

To which, everyone else couldn't help but laugh.

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There's the end of that one! As lame as this chapter may seem, I felt that if this were to ever happen –or something like it- this would be one of the possible reactions that would be received. As promised, here's a peek at an upcoming Inuyasha fic I'm writing:

"The Fragments of a Soul"

Summary:

"We both may be hanyous, but you don't know the pain of having your soul divided by the void of darkness. But now, you will."

_Excerpt of chapter one:_

_"Inuyasha!" Kagome's heart raced in fear as her hanyou collapsed into the blood bathed dirt, Tetsusaiga falling idly a few feet to his left, seemingly to separate him from his love. Naraku loomed a few yards ahead of Inuyasha, smirking coldly at the inu-hanyou's convulsing body lying on the earth floor._

_"Soon, you, too shall face the pain of rejection because of your split soul, because of your appearance. You will know the pain of having mere fragments of what used to be something that was whole. You will understand what true turmoil feels like."_

_"Shut up, you bastard!" Kagome tore her gaze from Inuyasha's trembling form to notch an arrow onto her bow and release it toward her enemy. With a sinister chuckle, the evil hanyou dissipated under her holy powers and faded from sight. The miko mentally cursed Naraku for being such a coward before she slung her bow back into her shoulder and began to make her way over to the –now kneeling- inu hanyou._

_"Inuya-"_

_"Stay away," she froze at his quiet demand, although she could tell from the pleading tone in his voice that this was not like any of the other times he had snapped at her; oddly enough, he seemed…defeated. She started moving toward him again, her pace at a walk as she inched closer to her hanyou._

_"What's wrong, Inuyasha? Please, tell me-"_

_"That bastard…he made me a monster…"_

_"What are you talking a-" before she could finish her sentence, he turned his head quietly to fully face her, and despite her best efforts, she could not keep her gasp of shock from escaping._

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This next story I'm going to be posting will be a HUGE undertaking. I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and once I'm done with "Two Souls, One Heart," I'll be posting the official first chappie. Love you all! Hope you like 'em!


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